Austria’s far-right Freedom Party is headed for its first national election win
VIENNA — Austria’s far-right Freedom Party was headed for its first win in a national parliamentary election on Sunday, finishing ahead of the governing conservatives after tapping into voters’ anxieties about immigration, inflation, Ukraine and other concerns, a projection showed. But its chances of governing were unclear.
A projection for ORF public television, based on counting of more than 90% of the votes, put support for the Freedom Party at 28.9% and Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s Austrian People’s Party at 26.3%. The center-left Social Democrats were in third place with 21%. The outgoing government — a coalition of Nehammer’s party and the environmentalist Greens — lost its majority in the lower house of parliament.
Herbert Kickl, a former interior minister and longtime campaign strategist who has led the Freedom Party since 2021, wants to become Austria’s new chancellor on the back of the first far-right national election win in post-World War II Austria.
But to become Austria’s new leader, he would need a coalition partner to command a majority in the lower house of parliament — and rivals have said they won’t work with Kickl in government.
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The far right has tapped into voter frustration over high inflation, the war in Ukraine and the COVID pandemic. It has also built on worries about migration.
In its election program, titled “Fortress Austria,” the Freedom Party calls for “remigration of uninvited foreigners,” for achieving a more “homogeneous” nation by tightly controlling borders and suspending the right to asylum via an emergency law.
The Freedom Party also calls for an end to sanctions against Russia, is highly critical of Western military aid to Ukraine and wants to bow out of the European Sky Shield Initiative, a missile defense project launched by Germany. Kickl has criticized “elites” in Brussels and called for some powers to be brought back from the European Union to Austria.
“We don’t need to change our position, because we have always said that we’re ready to lead a government, we’re ready to push forward this change in Austria side by side with the people,” Kickl said in an appearance alongside other party leaders on ORF. “The other parties should ask themselves where they stand on democracy,” he added, arguing that they should “sleep on the result.”
Nehammer said it was “bitter” that his party missed out on first place, but noted that he had brought it back from lower poll ratings. He has often said that he won’t form a coalition with Kickl and said that “what I said before the election, I also say after the election.”
Some Germans worry for the future after Alternative for Germany, AfD, became the first far-right party to win a state election post-World War II.
More than 6.3 million people age 16 and over were eligible to vote for the new parliament in Austria, an EU member that has a policy of military neutrality.
Kickl has achieved a turnaround since Austria’s last parliamentary election in 2019. In June, the Freedom Party narrowly won a nationwide vote for the first time in the European Parliament election, which also brought gains for other European far-right parties.
Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders, whose party dominates the Netherlands’ new government, congratulated the Freedom Party on social network X on Sunday. So did Alice Weidel, a co-leader of the Alternative for Germany party.
The Freedom Party is a long-established force but Sunday’s projected result would be its best yet in a national parliamentary election, beating the 26.9% it scored in 1999.
In 2019, its support slumped to 16.2% after a scandal brought down a government in which it was the junior coalition partner. Then-vice chancellor and Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache resigned following the publication of a secretly recorded video in which he appeared to offer favors to a purported Russian investor.
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The leader of the Social Democrats, a party that led many of Austria’s post-World War II governments, positioned himself as the polar opposite to Kickl. Andreas Babler ruled out governing with the far right and has labeled Kickl “a threat to democracy.”
While the Freedom Party has recovered, the popularity of Nehammer’s People’s Party, which currently leads a coalition government with the environmentalist Greens as junior partners, declined sharply compared with 2019. The Greens’ support also was projected to drop to just under 9%, and the outgoing coalition appeared to be well short of a majority.
During the election campaign, Nehammer portrayed his party, which has taken a tough line on immigration in recent years, as “the strong center” that would guarantee stability amid multiple crises.
But those crises, ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and resulting rising energy prices and inflation, also cost it support. The government also angered many Austrians in 2022 with a short-lived coronavirus vaccine mandate, the first in Europe.
France’s voters denied the far right an expected election victory. But neither the left nor the center won an absolute majority. Deadlock will likely follow.
But the recent flooding caused by Storm Boris that hit Austria and other countries in Central Europe brought the environment back into the election debate and may have helped Nehammer slightly narrow the gap.
The People’s Party is the far right’s only way into government.
Nehammer has repeatedly excluded joining a government led by Kickl, describing him as a “security risk” for the country, but hasn’t ruled out a coalition with the Freedom Party in and of itself — which would imply Kickl renouncing a position in government.
The likelihood of Kickl agreeing to such a deal if he wins the election is very low, leading political scientist Peter Filzmaier said before the election.
The most probable alternative would be an alliance between the People’s Party and the Social Democrats — with or without the liberal Neos, who took about 9% of the vote.
About 300 protesters gathered outside the parliament building in Vienna on Sunday evening, holding placards with slogans including “Kickl is a Nazi.”
Liechtenstein writes for the Associated Press. Associated Press video journalist Philipp Jenne in Vienna and reporter Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
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