Big win for FPÖ: what does it mean for Austria?
The right-wing populist Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) has won the most votes for the first time in Austria's parliamentary election. According to preliminary results it received 29.2 percent of the vote, followed by the conservative ÖVP with 26.5 percent and the Social Democrats with 21 percent. The current governing coalition between the ÖVP and the Greens (8 percent) has clearly failed to achieve a majority. Europe's press looks at reasons for the FPÖ's success and potential outcomes.
Victory for the number two
Die Presse takes a look at the FPÖ's top results and public image:
“Herbert Kickl has succeeded in realising Jörg Haider's plan, namely to replace the once untouchable major parties SPÖ and ÖVP as the strongest party with a record result. It is both astonishing and logical that of all people Kickl, a less prominent figure, has achieved this historic success. ... The FPÖ is now the rallying point for a heterogeneous group of the dissatisfied, opponents of the system and/or reactionaries, regardless of its leading candidate. ... From the outside, despite its painful history, Austria remains a pioneer for the rise of the populist right, which deliberately plays with taboos, breaks them and adopts an unclear stance towards the cornerstones of democracy and the rule of law.”
No surprise
The starting position for the ÖVP could not have been worse, Der Standard writes:
“People are dissatisfied and pessimistic about the future. Seen in this light, the ÖVP's result is no surprise. ... Lead candidate Karl Nehammer made a solid impression in TV debates, presenting himself as the one who could bring enlightenment to the nation. During the flood disaster he played the role of the efficient crisis manager. That gave him brownie points. However, the ÖVP failed to convince when it came to combating inflation. On the issue of immigration it has moved even further to the right: a party that writes in its programme that asylum seekers should have all their valuables taken away from them is barely distinguishable from the FPÖ. This did not pay off: all those in favour of such a policy have long been voting for the FPÖ.”
ÖVP largely to blame
Hvg calls for self-reflection on the part of the current governing party:
“If one party can be held responsible for the rise of the FPÖ then it's the ÖVP, which has been in government continuously for more than 30 years. Of course, it's not that simple, because the far right is gaining strength all over the world, trust in the state is declining everywhere, and the FPÖ first benefited from Covid, then from inflation, the energy crisis and the migration crisis. However, a little self-reflection would not go amiss for the ÖVP, as its candidate for chancellor (and current chancellor) Karl Nehammer has conceded. The strong centre that the ÖVP advertised on its election posters has collapsed.”
No "cordon sanitaire" against the far right
Rzeczpospolita compares the way the extreme right is treated in Germany and Austria:
“The difference to Germany is that up to now the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has no chance of winning the Bundestag elections because it is lagging behind the CDU/CSU at the federal level. Moreover, in Germany the AfD is being sidelined by the other parties. The situation is different in Austria. Although the left-wing parties want nothing to do with the far right, the ÖVP is willing to cooperate with the FPÖ.”
Pro-Russian Kickl won't be chancellor
G4Media.ro both warns and appeases:
“Like other ultra-right/radical/populist party leaders in Europe, the FPÖ leader is Russia-friendly and rejects support for Ukraine. ... Moreover, under Kickl's leadership the FPÖ has adopted an increasingly revisionist stance on the country's National Socialist past and is fuelling a semi-racist and Islamophobic discourse. But despite the FPÖ having secured first place, it's unlikely that Kickl will become Chancellor. ÖVP leader Karl Nehammer, the only party leader who is prepared to form a coalition with the FPÖ (as in 1999 and 2017) categorically rejects Kickl as chancellor. ... Kickl also has a fierce enemy in Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, a staunch pro-European who has the constitutional right to reject a candidate for chancellor.”
Unfit for government
The Neue Zürcher Zeitung also doubts that the FPÖ will move into the Chancellery:
“On the one hand the FPÖ has radicalised its content under Kickl. The election programme contains points that break with the Austrian system. Kickl is openly striving for 'Orbanisation'. When it comes to foreign policy, he wants to put the country on an anti-European and pro-Kremlin course. On the other hand one can safely say that the party's track record in government is abysmal. ... Five years ago even the chancellor at the time, Sebastian Kurz, declared 'Enough is enough'. ... In terms of content, his government's performance with the Freedom Party was poor: most of the reforms were just patchwork, or they were rescinded by the courts, or they turned out to be just a PR stunt.”
First three-party coalition on the cards
In a Facebook post, political strategist Ruslan Rokhov predicts that FPÖ and the Greens will be left out:
“After the parliamentary elections in Austria, a lengthy process of coalition negotiations lies ahead. A renewed coalition between the ÖVP and the Greens seems impossible due to the lack of votes as well as significant differences between the two current coalition partners. It looks like a three-party coalition will be formed for the first time in Austria's history – between the ÖVP, SPÖ and Neos. The liberals could replace the Greens as a junior partner, albeit in a broader coalition.”