The former SS officer won for the first time in the history of the Second Austrian Republic since 1955. Anton Reinthaller Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), founded in 1956. The neo-Nazi party could not even come close to governing for decades, until 2000, when Wolfgang Schüsselthe chancellor of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) formed a coalition with the then charismatic president, Jörg Haider with his party. The formation of the coalition resulted in EU sanctions at the time, but years later, in 2017, the also pro-people Sebastian Kurz he was able to rejoin the coalition with the Freedom Party with much less resistance.
The right-wing coalition in 2019 is the then FPÖ vice-chancellor, Heinz Christian Strache it fell apart due to the so-called “Ibiza scandal”, which also led to new elections, in which the radical right-wing party achieved only 16 percent. However, as the opposition of the new People’s Party-Green coalition, the party reached rock bottom – primarily the president since 2021 Herbert Kickl under his leadership – began to soar and in April 2022 he took the lead in the opinion polls. The FPÖ the coronavirus epidemic made it popular again: their anti-closure, vaccine-skeptic messages struck a chord with many voters. But their main topic became immigrationwhich most Austrian citizens now name as Austria’s biggest problem.
The FPÖ finished in the lead with its record result so far, 28.8 percent in elections,
which brought a very high participation rate of 78 percent. The second-placed ÖVP was forced to record a record loss: it fell from more than 37 percent in 2019 to 26.3 percent. The social democratic SPÖ achieved its result five years ago – then and now it finished with 21 percent – but for the first time in its history, it was reduced to third place.
The second party of the current government coalition, the Greens, did no better than the People’s Party: they fell from almost 14 percent to 8.3 percent. In addition to the FPÖ, the liberal NEOS can also call the election a success: they rose from 8.1 to 9.2. In other words, it can be said as a whole: the parties of the government coalition fell sharply, two parties from the opposition were able to increase their share of the vote, while the SPÖ, which is also in the opposition – which has basically been suffering from a leadership crisis for years – is stagnating. The smaller parties, previously considered capable of reaching the 4 percent threshold – the communist KPÖ and the Sörpárt, which started as a joke party – finished with a result of around 2 percent. (The high turnout did not favor them.)
The big question now is what kind of coalition can lead Austria in the future. Alexander Van Der Bellen former president of the Republic of the Green Party stated earlier, he is not willing to give FPÖ president Herbert Kickl the task of forming a government. According to the Austrian constitution, Van Der Bellen can do this, because it is not stipulated that he has to invite the candidate of the party with the most votes to form a government.
The president and former chancellor of the ÖVP, Karl Nehammer previously indicated is willing to enter into a coalition with the Freedom Party, but only if Kickl is not the chancellor. However, the FPÖ leader does not show a willingness to step back one step for the time being. One more is conceivable triple coalition between the ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS or the Greens, but it would be difficult to reconcile the ideologically divergent programs of three parties. In addition, the Austrian parties have the negative example of the German traffic light coalition: the socialist-green-liberal coalition led to the severe weakening of all three parties and the spectacular strengthening of the far-right AfD. An opposition FPÖ facing a centrist triple coalition could very likely gain even more popularity than it currently has, and no one wants that except for it.
Therefore, the most likely is a pro-freedom-pro-people coalition.
With the fronts between Kickl and Nehammer seemingly frozen, one of them should probably step back. Considered one of the most unpopular Austrian politicians, Kickl’s retreat into the background would not particularly hurt even his own voters, as only 2 percent of FPÖ supporters said that it was because of him that they drew the X on the party. The ÖVP, on the other hand, is not in a position to dictate conditions if it wants to continue its government since 1987 (!). He lost almost a third of his votersfor those who choose him in 2019 a quarter migrated to the FPÖ. Although it has operated as a minor coalition partner alongside the SPÖ, it has still governed with the FPÖ.
The Freedom Party’s coming to power is definitely the case more anti-immigration and would result in a more pro-Russian policy.
The FPÖ advocated the deportation (remigration) of immigrants unable to integrate, and would prevent the arrivals from submitting asylum applications in Austria (on the grounds that the only way to Austria within the EU is from other safe countries). By the way, the Austrian People’s Party would also tighten the immigration rules, so there would not be such big disagreements between the two right-wing parties.
What it’s like has grown in size migration in the Alpine country clearly shows that between 2015 and 2023 the number of people who or whose parents were not born in Austria increased by a third, and they now make up about 27 percent of the total population of 9 million. The arrival of mainly Muslim immigrants is causing more and more problems, in Vienna, for example, showdowns between Chechen and Syrian criminal gangs have become commonplace. And in August Taylor Swift his concert in Vienna had to be canceled because three young immigrants or Muslim youths with immigrant roots planned an assassination.
As for Russia – Austria’s largest gas supplier by far – and the war in Ukraine, the FPÖ is definitely pro-Moscowwhich is clearly shown by the fact that the party concluded a friendship agreement in 2016 Vladimir Putin with his party, United Russia. Militarily neutral Austria does not supply weapons to Ukraine, but this is not enough for the Freedom Party: it argues for the lifting of EU sanctions against Russia. In this regard, he thinks similarly to Fidesz, with whom the Austrian Freedom Party sits in a joint parliamentary group, the Patriots for Europe faction, in the European Parliament. Viktor Orbán on X, he congratulated the FPÖ on the victory:
The Patriots won again: the FPÖ’s historic victory in Austria! Congratulations to Herbert Kickl
– wrote the Hungarian Prime Minister.
Another win for the : an historic victory for in ! Congratulations to Herbert Kickl! #Patriots
— Orbán (Viktor) September 29, 2024
Its critics often brand the FPÖ as neo-Nazis, and the party often provides a reason for this. For example, Kickl has already relativized the crimes of the SS, and the future itself People’s Chancellor(people’s chancellor) – a term Adolf Hitler also used for himself. And on the Friday before the current election, several leading members of the FPÖ gathered for the funeral of an elderly comrade, who drew attention to himself in 2006 by greeting his audience with the well-known Nazi greeting, “Heil!”. At Friday’s funeral, the mourners – including the Viennese leader of the Freedom Party, Harald Stefan – a “If everyone becomes unfaithful, we will remain faithful” They sang a song beginning with (Even if everyone becomes a traitor, we will remain loyal), which was composed by a German poet in 1814 and became infamous as the loyalty song of the dreaded Hitler’s assault squad, the SS.
Cover photo: Herbert Kickl, president of the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) celebrates at the party’s event in Vienna on September 29, 2024, after winning the Austrian parliamentary elections. MTI/EPA/Filip Singer
Source: www.portfolio.hu
