Far right got most votes in Austria’s election, first projections show
The far right got the most votes in today’s election, according to first projections.
Far-right Freedom party (FPÖ): 29.1%
Centre-right Austrian People’s party (ÖVP): 26.2%
Social Democratic party (SPÖ): 20.4%
NEOS-New Austria: 8.8%
Greens: 8.6%
Key events
The German far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD)’s Alice Weidel has congratulated the Freedom party.
The far-right Freedom party is celebrating the first projections, which show the party got the most votes in today’s election in Austria.
Here are the latest images from Vienna.
Here’s the projected seat distribution, from ORF:
Far-right MEP Harald Vilimsky has thanked voters.
Far right got most votes in Austria’s election, first projections show
The far right got the most votes in today’s election, according to first projections.
Far-right Freedom party (FPÖ): 29.1%
Centre-right Austrian People’s party (ÖVP): 26.2%
Social Democratic party (SPÖ): 20.4%
NEOS-New Austria: 8.8%
Greens: 8.6%
Polls have closed. We are now waiting for the first projections.
The last polls will close in Austria in 15 minutes.
Stay tuned for first projections and reactions.
Austria’s far right rides wave of public anger
Deborah Cole
Fear, uncertainty and suspicion ran high in Klagenfurt, southern Austria, before today’s high-stakes parliamentary election, in which the far-right Freedom party (FPÖ) could become the strongest force in the country for the first time in the postwar period.
For at least a week, and some local people say much longer, the tap water in this city of baroque facades and a stunning Alpine lake has been contaminated with faecal bacteria and unsafe to drink.
No one – not the government or environmental officials – has managed to ascertain the cause although baseless theories involving poisoned wells, migrants and other scapegoats run wild in pubs and the darker corners of the internet. Nor is a solution in sight. “Plan C”, as the public works chief, Erwin Smole, has described flushing pipes with diluted chlorine, is still being considered after other measures failed.
As local citizens picked up their free drinking water in plastic bottles from a distribution point at a convention centre, the pessimism and outrage over the political class that have fuelled the rise of the far right across Europe was plain to see.
“I haven’t decided who to vote for – it’s hard to trust anyone these days,” said hospital nurse Elisabeth Liftenegger, 55, summing up the anti-incumbent sentiment as she loaded up a shopping trolley with potable water.
What is the FPÖ?
Jon Henley
One of Europe’s oldest far-right parties, the FPÖ was founded in 1956. Despite being initially headed by a former Nazi functionary and SS officer, it was a relatively moderate liberal party until the mid-1980s, when it veered radically right under the firebrand leader Jörg Haider.
The party has twice been the junior partner in short-lived coalition governments with the conservative Austrian People’s party (ÖVP), after finishing second in the parliamentary elections of 1999 with 27% of the vote and third in 2017 with 26% of the vote.
Both coalitions ended early. Bitter FPÖ infighting led to the collapse of the first in 2002, and the so-called Ibizagate scandal in 2019 forced the resignation of the party’s then leader, Heinz-Christian Strache, and torpedoed the second after 18 months in office.
Now led by the controversial former interior minister Herbert Kickl, the FPÖ is nativist, anti-immigration, hostile to Islam and staunchly Eurosceptic. One of its MEPs, Harald Vilimsky, has described its electoral mission as “kicking the establishment in the butt”.
The FPÖ’s programme, “Fortress Austria, Fortress of Freedom”, plans to cut provision for irregular migrants and asylum seekers to a bare minimum, block family reunification for migrants already in Austria, and promote “remigration”, particularly for offenders.
It also wants to cut corporate tax and wage costs, and in foreign policy it is opposed to EU sanctions against Russia and further aid to Ukraine. The FPÖ has signed and renewed a “cooperation agreement” with Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party.
Here are some images from election day in Austria.
‘Moment of truth’ for Austria as far right senses election triumph
Deborah Cole
Austrians are going to the polls today.
Riding a far-right surge in many parts of Europe, the pro-Kremlin, anti-migration Freedom party (FPÖ) and its leader, Herbert Kickl, are capitalising on fears around migration, asylum and crime heightened by the August cancellation of three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna over an alleged Islamist terror plot.
Mounting inflation, tepid economic growth and lingering resentment over strict government measures during Covid have dovetailed into an 11-point leap in the polls for the FPÖ since the last election in 2019.
Polling shows the election on a knife-edge, with the far right in the lead at 27%, two points ahead of the ÖVP of Chancellor Karl Nehammer.
The opposition Social Democrats (SPÖ) look set for third place with about 21%.
Despite devastating flooding this month from Storm Boris bringing the climate crisis to the fore, the Greens are on just 8%, nearly six points off their 2019 result.
Given the electoral maths, any winner will require a coalition to form a government.
The first polling stations opened at or shortly before 7am (0500 GMT). Projections are due minutes after polls close at 5pm, with results being finessed over the ensuing hours.
Welcome to the blog
Good afternoon and welcome to a special edition of the Europe blog, focused on today’s election in Austria.
Stay tuned for results, reaction and analysis.
Send thoughts and tips to [email protected].
