Austria election results: far-right FPO wins

A far-right party founded by former Nazis appeared to have won Austrian elections on Sunday, in a result that could reshape Europe’s political landscape and tilt the balance of power between Russia and the West.

Projections from ORF public television Exit polls show that the pro-Russian, anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPÖ) came first, with 29.1% of the vote.

It appears that the ruling conservative Österreichische Volkspartei (ÖVP), the Austrian People’s Party, has been pushed to second place, with 26.2% of the votes. The Social Democratic Party of Austria finished third with 20.4%.

The FPÖ’s victory is the latest sign that a movement characterized by anti-immigrant and anti-Islam sentiments has made a breakthrough on the continent.

It marks a stunning turnaround in the fortunes of the party, which fell from government in 2019 after a corruption scandal. But the country is far from an absolute majority in the tight elections and will need help to form a stable government.

However, building a coalition will likely be difficult as all other major groups have ruled out cooperation with the FPÖ.

As in other elections across Europe this summer, in which political extremes outperformed their moderate counterparts, Austria may therefore face a period of political uncertainty as parties battle each other to take the lead.

But even if the party fails to form a coalition government, the result will serve as a symbolic victory for the far right.

The FPÖ is led by 55-year-old Herbert Kickl, who has been branded by his party as “People’s Chancellor” or “People’s Chancellor”, a term most associated with the Nazis who used it to describe Adolf Hitler. The FPÖ was indeed founded in the 1950s by former members of Hitler’s paramilitary group the SS, although Kickl and his supporters reject the contemporary comparison.

Like other far-right leaders, he has benefited from high inflation and Europe’s migration crisis, in which hundreds of thousands of people have fled war, poverty and natural disasters in the Middle East, North Africa and beyond.

Kickl has proposed a dramatic overhaul of the Austrian migration system, including the introduction of “remigration” of “undesirable aliens” – the deportation of migrants to their countries of origin.

The party also has strong ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the arch-enemy of the European Union. The FPÖ has called not only for an end to European support for Ukraine, but also for an end to sanctions imposed on Russia over its war.

The party’s ideas and policies are not unknown to Austria’s ten million residents, and the party has been close to the helm of Austrian politics in recent years. The FPÖ was the junior partner in a coalition government with ÖVP between 2017 and 2019, a relationship that collapsed amid scandals and conflict.

But while the FPÖ has always been the subordinate in coalitions, it now holds the cards and could entice others to help it form a government.

The ÖVP is the only party that has been open to cooperation with the far-right party in the past, and it remains to be seen whether it will accept the role of sidekick this time. Chancellor and ÖVP leader Karl Nehammer has so far ruled out any coalition that Kickl is part of.

But with Kickl now in charge of Austria’s largest party, the country joins a long list of countries across Europe where the far right now wields significant power after making gains in Germany, France and the Netherlands this summer.

For centuries, Austria has enjoyed great influence as a crossroads in the heart of Europe. The country’s neutral status, officially linked neither to NATO nor Russia, means it has long served as an arena for politicians, diplomats and spies seeking to tip the geopolitical balance.

But that role is now in jeopardy, as Adolf Hitler’s birthplace faces a potential new government that is anything but neutral.