The newly elected president of the National Council Walter Rosenkranz holds his first speech during the constitutional session of the Parliament in Vienna, Austria, October 24, 2024. REUTERS/Lisa Leutner
VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria's lower house of parliament on Thursday elected its first ever far-right speaker after his Freedom Party won last month's parliamentary election and many conservatives backed him over the objections of the left and the Jewish community.
Walter Rosenkranz, a 62-year-old lawyer and veteran lawmaker for the eurosceptic, Russia-friendly Freedom Party (FPO), had recently served as Austria's parliament-appointed ombudsman. His supporters say his decades of public service qualify him for the country's second-highest office.
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