The far right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) has shocked many countries with an unexpected parliamentary election victory on the 29^th of September. The party led by Herbert Kickl won 28.9% of the vote, just inching ahead of the moderate conservative ‘People’s Party’ (ÖVP) with 26.3%. This was done with a national turnout of 77%, and an election campaign focused on migration, the war in Ukraine and the economic problems similarly affecting other European countries.

With a 183-seat parliament, this translates to the FPÖ winning 57 seats and their rival conservatives closely behind on 51, while the Social Democrats are now on 41. Other parties such as the Greens saw a loss of seats (down to 16 from 26 in 2019).

The Freedom Party ran on a far right platform for the election, including wanting highly-restrictive immigration rules and campaigning for re-migration, involving sending asylum seekers back to their country of origin. As well as this, Kickl has said that if he becomes chancellor he would title himself ‘Volkskanzler’ (people’s chancellor), similar to the title used by Adolf Hitler.

Kickl’s party has styled itself as a supporter of Victor Orban and his ‘illiberal democracy’. This has led incumbent chancellor Karl Nehammer of the ÖVP to rule out making Kickl chancellor if the two parties entered a coalition. The Social Democrats and Greens have naturally ruled-out creating a coalition with the party, so the more moderate ÖVP would be the only option to go into coalition with.

The Austrian President, Alexander Van der Bellen, has previously criticised the FPÖ over its opposition to EU sanctions against Russia, and for failing to condemn the Kremlin for its invasion of Ukraine. While Austria has been officially neutral since the Cold War, it is hard to pin down specifics of the cause for the far right’s rise in Austria compared to other European countries.

There is some speculation as to the consequences of this election, with one possibility being that the chancellor is someone other than Kickl from the FPÖ, if the ÖVP refuses to work with him. This would be similar to what happened in the Netherlands where Geert Wilder’s Freedom Party were incorporated into a slightly chaotic multi-party coalition with a more moderate Prime Minister. 

This election is part of a similar trend of various populist parties (especially on the far right) gaining electoral ground over more moderate and established parties in Europe. These right-wing populist figures seem to take Donald Trump in America and Orban in Hungary as inspiration for violent ideas that have been persistent since the early 2010s. 

One common trend is the subversion of democratic institutions for personal and party benefits, making it harder for parties committed to democracy to manoeuvre, or at the very least stay relevant. An example of this being the collapse of the generally moderate Socialists and Republican parties in France. However, it is hard to say exactly what will happen in Austria or how other countries will change in the face of these political trends.