(AP) – The Freedom Party on Sunday achieved the far-right’s first victory in national parliamentary elections in Austria after World War II, finishing ahead of the ruling conservatives after taking advantage of concerns about immigration, inflation, Ukraine and other topics. But his chances of governing were not clear.
According to preliminary results, the Freedom Party came in first place with 29.2% of the vote, followed by Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s Austrian People’s Party with 26.5%, while the center-left Social Democrats came 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 long-serving campaign strategist who has led the Freedom Party since 2021, wants to be chancellor.
But to become Austria’s new leader, he would need a coalition partner to secure a parliamentary majority. His rivals have said they will not work with Kickl in government.
The far right has benefited from frustration over high inflation, the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic. It has also taken advantage of concerns about migration.
In its electoral program, entitled “Fortress Austria”, the Freedom Party calls for “remigrating uninvited foreigners”, achieving a more “homogeneous” nation through strict border control and suspending the right to asylum through a law of emergency.
The Freedom Party also calls for an end to sanctions against Russia, harshly criticizes Western military aid to Ukraine and wants to withdraw from the Sky Shield Initiative, a missile defense project launched by Germany. Kickl has criticized the “elites” in Brussels and has called for Austria to take back some powers from the European Union.
“We don’t have to change our position, because we have always said that we are willing to lead a government, we are willing to drive this change in Austria side by side with the people,” Kickl said in an appearance alongside other party leaders at the ORF public television. “The other parties should ask themselves what their position is on democracy,” he added, arguing that they should “consult the result with their pillows.”
Nehammer said he was “bitter” that his party missed out on first place, but noted that it regained it from lower poll scores. He often said that he will not form a coalition with Kickl and said that “what I said before the election, I will also say after the election.”
More than 6.3 million people were eligible to vote to elect the new parliament of Austria, an EU member that maintains a policy of military neutrality.
Kickl 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 elections, also marking gains for other European parties far right.
The leader of the Dutch far-right Geert Wilders, whose party dominates the new government of the Netherlands, congratulated the Freedom Party on the social network X this Sunday. So did Alice Weidel, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany party.
The Freedom Party is a long-established force, but Sunday’s result was its best yet in a national parliamentary election, surpassing the 26.9% it obtained in 1999.
In 2019, his support plummeted to 16.2% after a scandal brought down a government in which he was a junior partner. The then vice-chancellor and leader of the Freedom Party, Heinz-Christian Strache, resigned after the publication of a secretly recorded video in which he appeared to offer favors to an alleged Russian investor.
The leader of the Social Democrats, a party that led many of Austria’s post-World War II governments, positioned himself as Kickl’s polar opposite. Andreas Babler ruled out governing with the extreme right and described Kickl as a “threat to democracy.”
While the Freedom Party recovered, the popularity of Nehammer’s People’s Party declined sharply compared to 2019. Support for the Greens, its coalition partner, also fell to 8%.
During the election campaign, Nehammer presented his party, which has taken a hard line on immigration in recent years, as “the strong center” that would guarantee stability amid multiple crises.
But crises, ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting rise in energy prices and inflation, also cost him support. The government also angered many Austrians in 2022 with a short-lived coronavirus vaccination order, the first in Europe.
But the recent flooding caused by Storm Boris that affected Austria and other countries may have helped Nehammer slightly close the gap as a crisis manager.
The Popular Party is the only way for the extreme right to reach the government, and now it has the key to forming any administration.
Nehammer repeatedly ruled out joining a government led by Kickl, whom he described as a “security risk” to the country, but did not rule out a coalition with the Freedom Party itself, which would involve Kickl giving up a position in the government. But that seems highly unlikely with the Freedom Party in the first place.
The alternative would be an alliance between the Popular Party and the Social Democrats, with or without the liberal Neos, who obtained 9% of the votes.
The final official result will be published later in the week, after a small number of remaining postal votes have been counted, but this will not materially change the result.
About 300 protesters gathered in front of the Parliament building in Vienna on Sunday night, holding signs with slogans such as “Kickl is a Nazi.”
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