31.7.2006
Austrian Pirate Party goes official
The fast spreading of the political pirate movement from Sweden to whole Europe appeared initially to surprise even the Swedes themselves. They had been focusing so much on their own election campaign and domestic debates that it took a moment for them to realize what was actually happening. European sister parties started to pop up here and there, basically copying their agenda and signing to the same powerful pirate symbolism. As to be expected, these were merely small grassroot organizations of a few activists, with little more than a website and a discussion forum to begin with.
After the initial surprise the Swedish mother party quickly assumed a leading and consulting role, helping the newcomers in various organizational and political issues. And it seems that in this time, and for this movement, the grassroot can quickly grow into official. The
Austrian Pirate Party - Piraten Partei Österreichs - will be the first party to follow Swedish Piratpartiet in becoming an official national party. The Austrian Pirates will be handing over their basic principles to the Austrian Ministery of Inner Affairs today and they have promised to provide further information about their plans in coming press releases.