Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPO), led by Herbert Kickl, secured its first-ever general election victory, according to projections following Sunday’s vote.
With 29.1% of the vote, the FPO edged out Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s conservative Austrian People’s Party (OVP), which garnered 26.2%.
The FPO’s campaign focused on immigration and economic concerns, issues that have boosted support for hard-right parties across Europe.
“What’s at stake is whether the FPO will appoint the chancellor or not,” Kathrin Stainer-Haemmerle, political science professor at Carinthia University of Applied Sciences said.
“Should that happen, then I have to say the role of Austria in the European Union would be significantly different. Kickl has often said that Viktor Orban is a role model for him and he will stand by him.”
However, Kickl remains a divisive figure, making coalition-building uncertain despite his victory. Nehammer has ruled out joining a government with Kickl as leader.
In October 2023, the FPO started a motion demanding Austria withdraw funding of Ukraine.
“The EU must finally stop throwing billions of member states’ money out the window,” MP Petra Steger, an FPÖ spokesperson said to the Austrian parliament’s foreign affairs committee.
“We say: Enough is enough. Austria has paid enough! Our job is to represent the interests of Austrian taxpayers. So, we are campaigning to put an end to this irresponsible policy at the expense of net contributor states and to suspend contributions until we are assured that our money is being used in a contractual and responsible manner and this huge waste is stopped,” Steger continued.
At the end of the year, Austria will have paid €33.6 billion in membership fees to Brussels, which includes contributions to the European Peace Facility to buy arms for Ukraine.
The spokesperson noted that Austria’s financial support towards the EU has led to record-high inflation and irresponsible spending.
“As a result, Austrian citizens have been sending billions of euros to the EU institutions for years, and the EU institutions have been rewarding them with climate madness and the highest inflation since 1952,” Steger said.
