FPÖ celebrates triumph in elections in Austria

The right-wing populists in Austria are celebrating the best day in their party’s history. The party benefits from the discontent among the population. But it is questionable whether the FPÖ is allowed to govern.

The right-wing FPÖ is the strongest political force in Austria for the first time. According to projections, the right-wing populists achieved their best-ever result in the parliamentary election with 29.2 percent. This is an increase of 13 percentage points compared to 2019. The conservative Chancellor’s Party ÖVP achieved 26.2 percent – a minus of 11.2 points, according to data from the Foresight Institute on behalf of ORF. The social democratic SPÖ fell to a record low of 21 percent (minus 0.2 points).

But the clear election winner, Herbert Kickl, is blocked from entering the Chancellery as head of the FPÖ. The ÖVP, as the only conceivable coalition partner, continues to refuse to work with the right-wing politician.

Kickl sees the historic election victory of his right-wing party as a signal for a change of direction in Austria. “The voters have spoken today,” he said in his first reaction. The voters “made a clear commitment that things cannot continue like this in this country.”

The election result is a turning point for Austria in several respects. The ÖVP, spoiled for power, and the SPÖ have never been so weak at the same time. For the first time, the Social Democrats only achieved third place, while the ÖVP, headed by Chancellor Karl Nehammer, recorded one of their worst election results. According to election researchers’ findings, the FPÖ benefited enormously from the great discontent among the population. Austria is deep in an economic downturn and unemployment is growing. In addition, the Alpine republic has been one of the EU countries with particularly high inflation in recent years. In addition, the FPÖ’s strict anti-migration policy is considered popular.

According to the information, the Greens can expect 8.2 percent (minus 5.7 percentage points), the liberal Neos with 8.9 percent – that would be a small plus. The Beer Party and the communist KPÖ clearly fail at the four percent hurdle. In total, almost 6.4 million citizens were called upon to elect a new parliament. Most recently, the country was governed by a coalition of the ÖVP and the Greens.

The FPÖ’s significant gains are in line with the Europe-wide right-wing trend. Right-wing parties have gained popularity across Europe, for example in the Netherlands Geert Wilders and his right-wing radical Party for Freedom (PVV), the Italian right-wing party Fratelli d”Italia (Brothers of Italy) with Giorgia Meloni at the head and the right-wing national Rassemblement National (RN ) with Marine Le Pen in France. In Germany, the AfD achieved great success in the state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg.

In its election program, the FPÖ promoted an extremely restrictive migration policy under the motto “Fortress Austria – Fortress Freedom”. The party calls for migrants to be returned to their home countries and wants “homogeneity” in society as a counter to the diversity that is often sought internationally. When it comes to foreign policy, the FPÖ is extremely critical of the EU. Despite the war in Ukraine, it is taking a rather benevolent course towards Russia and sees no problem with Austria’s dependence on Russian gas.

Despite the victory, it will be very difficult for Kickl to become the next chancellor. All parties have so far refused to work with the 55-year-old. Under Kickl’s aegis, for example, the FPÖ gave up its former distance from the Identitarians, who were classified as right-wing extremists. Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen does not necessarily have to give the task of forming a government to the party with the highest number of votes. The former Green Party leader has repeatedly made clear his criticism of the FPÖ’s political positions on EU, migration and the war in Ukraine.

It is therefore likely that Chancellor Nehammer will be given the task of forging a government coalition. The alternative to the FPÖ is the SPÖ. However, an alliance is considered difficult because SPÖ leader Andreas Babler has moved the Social Democrats far to the left with demands such as a 32-hour week. One of the questions that now arises is whether Babler can stay in office given the result.