Austria’s Freedom Party is headed for an unprecedented victory in the general election under leader Herbert Kickl, polls show.
The projections, based on preliminary results, give Kickl’s party 29.2% – almost three points ahead of the Conservative’s Party at 26.3%, but well short of a majority.
The Freedom Party (FPÖ) has had a coalition in the past, but the People’s Party, which came in second place, refused to take part in a government led by him.
Kickl’s main rival, Chancellor Karl Nehammer of the People’s Party (ÖVP), said “it is impossible to form a government with someone who likes conspiracy theories”.
Some 6.3 million Austrians were eligible to vote in a race dominated by the twin issues of migration and asylum, as well as inflation and the war in Ukraine.
The general secretary of the Freedom Party Michael Schnedlitz was happy with the first impressions, declaring that “the men and women of Austria have made history today”. He declined to say what kind of coalition his party would try to build.
They are on course for 57 seats in the 183-seat parliament, 51 for the Conservatives and 40 for the Social Democrats.
The fiery leader of the Freedom Party, Herbert Kickl, promised the Austrian people to build “Fortress Austria”, to restore their security, prosperity and peace.
He also talked about being Volkskanzler (people’s chancellor) which for some Austrians corresponds to the name used to describe Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany.
Forming a coalition may prove difficult for Herbert Kickl, a divisive individual.
The Social Democrats, Greens and Neos have all ruled out co-operation with the far right.
The only possible coalition that Kickl’s party could form is with conservatives, although the Freedom Party will have to find a solution to the People’s Party’s refusal to let Kickl become chancellor.
When Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party won the election in the Netherlands last November, he withdrew his bid to become prime minister so that the other three parties agreed to form a coalition. However, Kickl is determined to become chancellor, promising the Austrians to act as their “servant and protector”.
Political analyst Thomas Hofer told the BBC that it was not at all clear that Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, who is overseeing the formation of the government, would give Kickl “a direct mandate to form a coalition”.
The People’s Party could in theory form a coalition with the Social Democrats and the liberal Neos or the Greens.
Van der Bellen has previously expressed doubts about the FPÖ because of its criticism of the EU and its failure to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The group opposes EU sanctions on Moscow, citing Austria’s neutrality.
Kickl’s proposed victory is only the latest success for far-right opposition parties in Europe.
Italy’s Giorgia Meloni leads a right-wing coalition as the leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy and Germany’s AfD topped elections in the eastern state of Thuringia last month.
Unlike Kickl, the Italian prime minister has fully supported the EU’s defense of Ukraine in the face of an all-out Russian invasion.
Kickl has also been plagued by fears about immigration to Austria and has capitalized on anger at the government’s handling of the Covid pandemic, embracing conspiracy theories about the vague treatment of the virus.
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