Austrian far-right FPÖ wins elections led by controversial populist Herbert Kickl

Austria’s far-right populist Freedom Party (FPÖ) finished first in parliament elections. (Wikipedia Commons)

Austria’s Freedom Party (FPÖ), led by Herbert Kickl, finished first in national parliamentary elections on August 29. Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) followed in second place, an upsetting result for the outgoing government. 

With a voter turnout of 77.3 percent of Austria’s six million eligible voters, the right-wing populist FPÖ received 29 percent of the vote, followed by the center-right ÖVP’s 26 percent. The center-left Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) received their lowest result ever recorded with 20 percent, followed by 9 percent finishes for both the Green Party and liberal NEOS party. Accordingly, within the 183-seat Austrian parliament, the FPÖ won 57 seats, followed by the ÖVP and the SPÖ with 51 and 41 seats respectively. The Freedom Party’s win came with congratulations from Marine le Pen of France’s far-right National Rally and the co-leader of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Deutschland (AfD), Alice Weidel. 

The FPÖ ran their recent campaign on the program of “Fortress Austria,” which is largely anti-immigration, opposed to aid for Ukraine, and against what Kickl describes as “gender madness” and “climate communism.” The party seeks to reform Austria’s immigration system by strengthening its borders against illegal migration and implementing “remigration” policies, which would aim to send asylum seekers back to their countries of origin. The proposed immigration policies of the FPÖ breach EU immigration laws. Additionally, the party’s opposition to EU aid for Ukraine follows the same contrasting stance of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, citing Austria’s historic neutrality. 

Despite the FPÖ’s first-place victory, their vote percentage does not grant them a majority, and they must form a coalition to proceed. The second-place center-right ÖVP and their leader, Chancellor Karl Nehammer, have refused to cooperate with a coalition government headed by Kickl. Yet the FPÖ intends to proceed with him as a possible Chancellor regardless. One potential outcome would be a coalition between three parties governed by Nehammar and the ÖVP. The two other parties would include the SPÖ and the NEOS or the Greens. However, the choice remains contentious as Nehammar disapproves of the SPÖ’s leader, Andreas Babler. Additionally, the continuation of a government headed by Chancellor Nehammer, whose party came in second place, could prove risky by upsetting FPÖ supporters who may feel their votes are being ignored.

Kickl is a controversial figure in Austrian politics, as under his tenure as Interior Minister, British and Dutch foreign intelligence agencies restricted the amount of data they shared with the Austrian government. This followed Austria’s refusal to expel Russian diplomats following the poisoning of a former spy in London and a formal cooperation agreement between Russia and the FPÖ, which controlled much of Austria’s security functions. Kickl was also oppositional to the Austrian government’s COVID response, contending the use of anti-parasite drugs as opposed to vaccines. He has also been a proponent of the “great replacement” theory, which states that Muslims are replacing white Christians.

The FPÖ has contentious origins due to the party’s genesis from ex-Nazi officials and officers of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) in 1956. Nazi correlations also extend into the present day. A video showed party members singing a popular anthem of the SS, “Wenn alle untreu werden,” on September 29, 2024. Critics have also condemned Nazi terminology from party officials and dog-whistle campaign slogans, with Andreas Babler designating Kickl as “a threat to democracy.” Accordingly, the FPÖ has been labeled racist, anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, and xenophobic, combined with criticisms of the potentially dangerous Euroskeptic, pro-Russian stance. 

Austria may be unlikely to experience complete far-right leadership, as it is necessary to form a government in a compromise that likely will not include a far-right Chancellor. Still, this shift in the political climate is notable as the trend in Europe seems to be leaning towards the right. Austria is one of many European nations seeing a rise in far-right populism, as exemplified by the AfD’s recent wins in regional German elections and governments in the Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, and Hungary.