The far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) is expected to win the Austrian parliamentary elections at the end of September, paving the way for an unprecedented takeover of government policy.

Austria once called itself an “island of bliss,” a mythical non-aligned country spared from the world’s problems. On September 29, the Alpine country’s far-right FPÖ (PfE) party is expected to win parliamentary elections, promising to transform the country into a “fortress of freedom.”

According to pollsters, the extreme right is in the lead with 27 percent of the vote, which corresponds to its result in the 2024 European elections. This is followed by the center-right ÖVP (EPP) and the center-left SPÖ (S&D), which are each in the lower 20 percent range in terms of vote share.

Herbert Kickl, an understated intellectual with a razor-sharp mind who leads the FPÖ, has declared that he wants to become “the people’s chancellor.” To get that job, Kickl will need a coalition partner.

Traditionally, this is the ÖVP, with which it has governed Austria together several times, with the FPÖ as a smaller coalition partner.

In 2000, the country was informally sanctioned by a shocked EU, meaning no EU meetings and no handshakes. The 2017 coalition, which remained sanction-free, collapsed in the wake of the Ibiza affair, in which FPÖ leaders offered government contracts to an alleged Russian oligarch in exchange for positive coverage.

What is new is that this time the extreme right will become the strongest party, which will have an impact far beyond the Alps.

“The task of forming a government should be given to those who come first,” Kickl told public broadcaster ORF.

The chairman also said that he wanted to promote a “homogeneous” Austria. The FPÖ’s election manifesto explicitly includes a commitment to “remigration,” which can go so far as to expel politically undesirable people from the country.

Under his leadership, Kickl transformed the anti-immigration, neoliberal FPÖ into an elitist and anti-WHO socialist powerhouse with huge spending plans.

He has promised not to raise any additional taxes while announcing new spending estimated at €17 billion a year.

In addition, the party has promised tax breaks for those starting their careers, rent subsidies for young adults and support for buying a home, lower taxes on savings, tax breaks for employers who offer higher wages, tax breaks for overtime, €5,000 bonuses for tradesmen, tax breaks for workers over 60 and even more for those who work beyond retirement age.

Kickl wants to save money by withdrawing from the European Sky Shield missile defense alliance founded by Germany and, in addition to “far-reaching structural changes”, also wants to reduce social assistance for Austrians.

With its “sovereignty” at the helm, the FPÖ is likely to become another jammed cog in the EU’s wheelhouse and make common cause with its Siamese twin from the Habsburg era, Viktor Orbán’s Hungary.

The party wants to “take back” powers from the EU and defend the principle of unanimity. It rejects “supranational courts” – much of European integration was driven by the bloc’s highest court in Luxembourg – and it gives in to conspiracy theorists by saying “no to the omnipotence of the WHO”.

To make these right-wing extremist plans a reality, Kickl must bring a star to the ball: either the center-left camp, which has completely ruled out a coalition, or the center-right camp, which has announced that it will not enter into a coalition with a Kickl-led FPÖ.

As the summer draws to a close, the FPÖ’s rise to power is becoming increasingly likely: the election campaign for the SPÖ chairmanship was won by the left-wing small-town mayor Andreas Babler, who has since been at loggerheads with the party elite instead of forming a convincing bulwark against the right-wing parties.

The SPÖ mayor of Linz, the country’s third-largest city, was forced to resign last week after it emerged that he had given the prestigious post of music director to a close friend.

Meanwhile, Austria’s Greens have been weakened by their disappointing performance in the EU elections and appear exhausted by years of coalition government in Vienna.

Although the ÖVP currently rules out a coalition with the FPÖ, it has repeatedly opted for coalition governments with the far right since the alliance’s failure in 2017, and did so in the country’s largest state as recently as 2023. However, it is not impossible that it could do so again.

This time, hardly anyone in Europe will care, let alone consider imposing sanctions against Vienna.

---

The summary

Read our latest policy briefs:

The Health Letter: Can the world outmaneuver Mpox?

The Green Letter: Climate litigation week in Brussels

More news

The leadership of The leader of the largest Greek opposition party Syriza, Stefanos Kasselakis, is again being questioned A new clash among left-wing politicians has brought the situation to a head.

The Portuguese government has proposed former Finance Minister Maria Luís Albuquerque as EU CommissionerPrime Minister Luís Montenegro announced on Wednesday.

A right-wing extremist is close to winning the local elections on Sunday (September 1) In the German federal state of Thuringia, the removal of the Prime Minister is expected in view of the growing dissatisfaction with the established parties.

István Nagy, Hungary’s Minister of Agriculture and current President of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council, will give the opening speech at the international Non-GMO Summit, which will take place this year will focus on the policy debate surrounding new genomic techniques (NGTs).

In a move that calls into question EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s desire for a gender-balanced Commission, Copenhagen on Wednesday (28 August) Current Development Minister Dan Jørgensen has been proposed for the next EU Commission.

Pay attention to …

• Informal meeting of EU Foreign Ministers, Brussels, Belgium.
• Vice-President of the European Commission Věra Jourová speaks at the “Building an AI Economy” conference in Prague, Czech Republic.
• EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi speaks at the informal meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Brussels, Belgium.
• EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell chairs the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium.
• Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič takes part in the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising in Bratislava, Slovakia.

(Edited by Rajnish Singh)