Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPO) must seek to clear a path to power after its first-ever parliamentary election victory left the anti-
establishment outfit needing a partner to form a governing coalition.
The triumph of the euroskeptic, Russia-friendly FPO on Sunday was another milestone in the recent rise of Europe’s hard right. However, the party immediately suffered a stiff reality check.
Photo: AFP
Facing FPO party leader Herbert Kickl in a television studio after results came in, leaders of the other parties in parliament dismissed his overtures on forming a coalition.
The FPO finished about 2.5 percentage points ahead of Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s conservative People’s Party (OVP) to capture about 29 percent of the vote and Kickl accused his rivals of opposing the will of the people.
“Tomorrow there will be a blue Monday and then we will set about turning that 29 percent into a political reality in this country,” Kickl told supporters on Sunday evening, playing on the fact blue is the color associated with his party.
Kickl, a provocative and polarizing figure allied with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, offered to negotiate with all other parties in Austria. The FPO’s unexpectedly clear victory risks being hollow if it could not find a partner.
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, a former Greens leader who oversees the formation of governments, urged all parties to hold talks and suggested the process could be drawn out.
Kickl’s win cheered hard-right parties across Europe, where the far-right has made gains in countries including the Netherlands, France and Germany. That growing support could stoke the risk of divisions inside the EU over key policy areas such as the defense of Ukraine against Russia.
Kickl says he wants to be a “Volkskanzler,” a term Nazis used for Adolf Hitler, although others have also claimed it.
The 55-year-old Kickl has embraced conspiracy theories, claiming de-worming agent ivermectin is effective against COVID-19, as did former US president Donald Trump. He opposes aid to Ukraine and wants sanctions against Russia withdrawn, arguing they hurt Austria more than Moscow.
Supporters say the FPO’s “Austria First” policies would curb illegal immigration and lift the economy. Critics worry it could herald a more authoritarian state.
Founded in the 1950s under the leadership of a former Nazi lawmaker, the FPO has worked to moderate its image. Voters were drawn by its pledges to restrict asylum and tackle inflation, although their attachment to Kickl appears limited.
Just 2 percent of FPO voters said he was the main reason for their vote, the lowest of any party leader, a survey by pollster Foresight showed.
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