Far-right Freedom Party ( FPO ) emerged victorious in Austria’s general election, according to vote projections, adding to the growing support for hard-right parties across Europe.
The Russia-friendly and Eurosceptic FPO, led by Herbert Kickl, maintained a narrow lead in opinion polls for months, surpassing Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s ruling conservative Austrian People’s Party ( OVP ) in a campaign focused on immigration and economic concerns.
Foresight, a pollster for broadcaster ORF, projected the FPO to secure 29.1 % of the vote, followed by the OVP at 26.2 % and the centre-left Social Democrats at 20.4 %.
Kickl, a previous interior minister and long-time campaign strategist who has led the Freedom Party since 2021, aspires to be president. However, in order to become Austria’s new president, he may need a coalition companion to secure a parliamentary majority, which might prove difficult because foes have expressed disapproval with their joint government efforts.
The far right’s success can be attributed to the government’s anger over great inflation, the continuing war in Ukraine, the Covid-19 crisis, and growing concerns about movement.
The Freedom Party’s election system, titled” Fortress Austria”, proponents for the “remigration of unwelcome foreigners”, tighter border controls, and the expulsion of the right to shelter through an incident rules to achieve a more “homogeneous” state.
Additionally, the Freedom Party requests that Russia’s sanctions be lifted, expresses strong opposition to American military support for Ukraine, and requests to step down from Germany’s German Sky Shield Initiative.
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