Your xenophobic and far-right Free Party Austria (FPO) leads ahead of Sunday’s elections, according to the latest poll.
The FPO, one of Europe’s oldest far-right parties, leads with 27%, followed by the ruling Austrian People’s Party (OVP) with 25%.
In third place is the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPO) with 21%. The Greens and the New Austria Party and Liberal Forum (NEOS) follow in fourth place with 9%.
The FPO supports a particularly tough asylum and immigration policy and makes this issue a priority. The party was founded in 1956 by Anton Reidhaller, a former Nazi party member and SS officer.
The FPO became the strongest force in Austria in the June 9 European Parliament elections. It was the first time since World War II that a far-right party came first in an election.
Led by a philosophy graduate turned far-right ideologue named Herbert Kickl, the FPO, which has promised to close Austria’s borders and “immigrate” anyone it considers foreign, is leading in national polls from autumn 2022.
The focus is on immigration and the OVP
The conservative OVP, which is currently in government with the Greens under the command of its main candidate, Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer, on the other hand, is focusing on “performance, family and security” in accordance with its platform of campaign.
The OVP also called for restricting the movement of asylum seekers in Austria and withdrawing their asylum if they are on holiday in their home country.
The social democratic SPO focuses on social justice. In its election manifesto, the party calls, among other things, for the establishment of a 32-hour work week and an increase in workers’ wages.
The liberal NEOS party in its electoral manifesto calls mainly for strengthening the economy and reducing bureaucracy. They also want to take stronger measures against corruption, creating more transparency.
According to their statements, the Greens defend above all tolerance, individual freedom and respect for different ways of life, as well as the connection to the liberal social tradition and the socialist utopia of justice and solidarity.
Long history of cooperation
However, if the FPÖ manages to take power as the main coalition partner, Austria will join several other European countries where the government is moving further to the right, having gained support on an anti-immigration platform and broadly Eurosceptic.
Even if the FPÖ wins on Sunday, it is far from certain that it will be able to form a government. Most other parties have ruled out cooperation with the far right.
The party’s fate depends on the center-right ÖVP, which currently leads the Austrian government together with the Greens. The ÖVP has a long history of cooperation with the FPÖ. In 2000, the party became the first in Western Europe to enter a coalition with the far right, breaking a taboo that led Austria’s EU partners to impose bilateral “diplomatic sanctions” on Vienna.
That government collapsed in a scandal after three years, but the ÖVP decided to make a new attempt in 2017 under Sebastian Kurz, its then prodigy. This experience ended with the Ibiza scandal just 18 months later.
Kurz got involved and although his party remains in power, it is still picking up the pieces. The current ÖVP leadership, under Chancellor Karl Neuhammer, insists that it would never accept Kickl as chancellor, anticipating the intervention of staunchly pro-European President Alexander van der Bellen, who will certainly invoke Austria’s position in the EU.
In other words, it may be up to the EU to save Austria from itself.