New far-right party in Austria

Far-right success has previously sparked protests

By Bethany Bell BBC News, Vienna

A new extreme right-wing party has been founded in Austria.

Interior Minister Ernst Strasser said his officials were watching the development of the National Democratic Party of Austria very carefully to see whether it conformed to Austria's strict laws forbidding neo-Nazi activities.

A spokesman from the Austrian Interior Ministry said the party, which is thought to have been founded in April, was regarded as a splinter group of Germany's far-right National Democratic Party, the NPD.

Joerg Haider's Freedom Party is sharing power

He said it was so far impossible to say how many people were behind the movement in Austria.

According to its website, the National Democratic Party of Austria says it wants to keep Austria for the Austrians.

It calls for a halt to what it terms the "increasing influx" of foreigners.

It also wants to reintroduce the death penalty.

Mr Strasser has condemned the new movement, saying such parties have no place in Austria.

The news comes amid increasing controversy about planned rallies by right-wing groups in Vienna on 8 May, the anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany in World War II.