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The participation of the Freedom Party in the Austrian government has given rise to exceptional reactions both in Austria and internationally. The imposition of a freeze in bilateral diplomatic relations by Austria's European Union partners has been particularly notable, amounting to an unprecedented response to the election of a new government in another Member State. This note seeks to describe the development of events and assess the status of the 14 Member States' actions under international law, in particular in the light of any developing norms concerning non-intervention, respect for human rights and the right to democratic governance.

In Resolution 1373 the Security Council laid down a series of general and abstract rules binding on all UN member states. In doing so, the Council purported to legislate.The police are ransacking the temple, searching for criminals and those it calls terrorists. The mind of the police -the security police in this case -is a machine, programmed to believe that history has ended and we won it; that what remains is a clash of civilizations and we intend to come up first. As it proceeds -helmets, boots, blackjacks and all -towards the altar, the people draw silently away into the small chapels, surrounding the navis, each to attend communion before a different god. After the police have gone, the altar hall is empty but for the few that were left to guard it, and their admirers. The frescoes, the bronze statues, the stained glass, the marble speak from different ages, through different symbols, and towards a now empty centre. Quod non fecerunt barbari, fecerunt Barberini. The peace of the police is not the calm of the temple but the silence of the tomb. 1

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