奥地利自由党成立之初是一个统合了极端自由主义分子和纳粹党残余势力的纳粹主义政党。在其成立之初至整个20世纪80年代前中期,自由党秉持纳粹主义、德意志民族主义,以及反民主、反建制的政策立场,成就很有限。直至海德尔成为党首之后全面改造自由党的内部结构和政策立场,将其转变为以反移民、反民主建制为主要诉求的极右民粹主义政党,取得了巨大的成功。自由党不仅仅在奥地利政党圈中巩固了自身的存在,还重塑了奥地利社会对移民以及文化多元主义的态度,使得奥地利社会的整体开放程度有所下降,奥地利政府和主体族群更倾向于限制和防范外来移民以及本国少数民族,而非秉持开放的态度去接纳这些群体,这是自由党在整个奥地利政坛和社会留下的最重要的印记。
The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) was originally founded as a Nazi party that united extreme liberals and the remnants of the Nazi Party. From its inception to the mid-1980s,the Freedom Party held Nazi,German nationalist,anti-democratic,and anti-establishment policy positions,its achievements were limited. It was not until Haider became the head of the party that the internal structure and policy positions of the Party were overhauled and transformed into a far-right populist party with anti-immigration and anti-democratic establishment as its main demands. It was also when the Freedom Party achieved great success. The Party not only consolidated its presence in Austrian political parties,but also reshaped the attitude of Austrian society towards immigration and cultural pluralism to a considerable extent,which has resulted in a decrease in the overall openness of Austrian society and a tendency of the Austrian government and the main communities to restrict and guard against foreign immigrants and national minorities rather than to adopt an open attitude towards such groups. This is the most important mark left by the Freedom Party in the entire Austrian political arena and society.