The campaign for the upcoming European elections in Austria is taking a nasty turn with political opponents branding each other "traitors to the fatherland" or "die-hard Nazis".

In the latest vitriolic attack, the vice-president of the opposition Social-Democratic group in parliament, Josef Broukal, on Friday accused lawmakers of the ruling coalition (Conservatives and Joerg Haider's far-right Freedom Party) of being "diehard National Socialists (Nazis)".

Broukal, a former television anchor, later apologized but Monday the Freedom Party and the Conservatives called for his resignation, saying that "those who denigrate the nation did not belong in parliament".

Haider, who is known for his anti-Semitic and racist remarks, recalled that in 1991 he had to resign as governor of Carinthia province after making a reference to "the labor policy of the (nazi) Third Reich".

Late last month, Haider, who had somewhat toned down his fiery rhetoric recently, took aim at Hannes Swoboda, who heads Austria's Social Democratic Party slate in the June 13 EU elections.

He called Swoboda a "traitor to the fatherland" for having backed sanctions imposed by the EU against Austria for nine months in 2000 after conservative chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel let the far-right into his government.

Resurrecting a four-year-old letter sent to European deputies in which Swoboda expressed his understanding for the EU attitude toward the EU, Haider, who is governor of Carinthia, called for a parliamentary enquiry for "treason".

EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler, an Austrian, recently described as "deplorable" the level of political debate in his country. The head of the Freedom Party parliamentary group, Herbert Scheibner, responded by slamming him for "denigrating the nation".

The Austrian press unanimously condemned the nasty tone of the campaign.

The rightist daily Die Presse said "raising the specter of nazism is dangerous and silly" while the influential tabloid Kronenzeitung said "it would give arguments to those abroad who claim that Austrians are closet Nazis".

While pointing out that public statements by Freedom Party officials "frequently reek of nationalism", the center-left weekly Profil said "it was nevertheless unacceptable to paint the ruling coalition as Nazi sympathizers".

A commentator for the Standard newspaper meanwhile pointed out that every year on May 8, Freedom Party leaders take part "alongside Neo-Nazis in ceremonies marking German capitulation in a pan-German spirit".

"With these personal attacks, we have reached the nadir of political debate," said political scientist Peter Ulram here.

"But by losing his cool in this manner, Broukal will probably help energize the rightist electorate for Sunday's election," he added.

According to an opinion poll published Friday by the Sora institute, 55 to 60 percent of the six million eligible voters will stay away from the polls.

The survey credited the opposition Social Democrats with 34 percent of the vote, the Conservatives with 30 percent, the opposition Greens with 13 percent and the Freedom Party with seven percent.

An independent slate led by Hans-Peter Martin, who is campaigning for re-election to the European parliament as an anti-corruption "Mr. Clean," is credited with 14 percent while a "left slate" backed by the Communist Party would get two percent.

Martin has accused fellow European parliamentarians of padding their expense budgets and committing other petty frauds to round out their salaries.

On June 13, Austrians will be choosing among six slates to send 18 deputies to the European Parliament, down from 21 elected in the 1999 European elections.

In 1999, the Social Democrats won seven seats, the Conservatives seven, the Freedom Party five and the Greens two.