The far right appears at the head of the legislative elections this Sunday, September 29 in Austria, moving, if this result is confirmed, towards a historic victory, according to projections published at the close of the vote by public television ORF.
Herbert Kickl’s Freedom Party (FPÖ) obtained 29.1% of the vote, compared to 26.2% for the conservatives (ÖVP) led by Chancellor Karl Nehammer, according to these first estimates based on the count of part of the votes. postal votes and ballots counted in offices closed earlier.
In a context of the rise of radical parties in Europe, this formation founded by former Nazis is doing even better than what the polls predicted. “I have a good feeling. The atmosphere is positive and I believe that we will transform the test at the polls,” declared FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl earlier after voting in Purkersdorf, near Vienna . Status quo or “five good years, that’s the question,” he said, repeating his campaign slogan.
Instrumentalization of social fears
This first place for the far right represents an earthquake in the Alpine country because although it has already tasted power, it has never finished at the top of a national election. Crushed in 2019 by the resounding scandal ofIbizagatethe FPÖ rose again under the leadership of Herbert Kickl, although he was hardly predestined to be in the light and who thrived on the social and economic fears crossing the continent.
Close to certain small groups criticized, the one who wants, in the native country of Adolf Hitler, to be called like him “Volkskanzler” (people’s chancellor), has adopted the term “remigration”, with the project of forfeiting their nationality and to expel Austrians of foreign origin. In 2015, the country was a favored destination for refugees during the great historic wave and has remained so ever since.