Semih Idiz, a columnist for the newspaper The Star, wrote today. The past, however, molded the decision as much as concerns about the future. The temptation to paint Mr. Haider as a reincarnation of Hitler has its own satisfactions, almost as if many Europeans were welcoming a chance to rewrite the sins of omission of a generation ago. To some Americans, drilled in the bedrock principle of free speech, Europe's attempt to muzzle a politician elected with 27 percent of the popular vote seemed puzzling. To protect democracy and human rights, the Europeans have adopted the very authoritarian methods that they say they are acting to forestall.
Many European countries have anti-fascist laws that restrict free speech and freedom of association.
Germany's Constitution, which the United States helped draft, bans the Nazi Party. Germany, France and Holland have laws to prevent people from asserting that the Holocaust never took place. Austria itself has taken legal steps to rein in any return of Nazi sentiment. For example, it outlawed statements denying the existence of Auschwitz's gas chambers. In Italy, where Mussolini ruled for 21 years, the Constitution forbids the resurrection of the Fascist Party.