Austria’s far-right Freedom Party has secured its first win in a national parliamentary election by tapping into voters’ concerns about immigration, inflation, Ukraine, and other issues. The party, led by Herbert Kickl, emerged ahead of the governing conservatives in a projection, with 29.2% support compared to Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s Austrian People’s Party at 26.3% and the centre-left Social Democrats at 20.5%.
Kickl aims to become Austria’s new chancellor, but forming a government may be challenging as potential coalition partners have expressed reluctance to work with him. The far-right’s success in the election reflects voter frustration over rising inflation, the war in Ukraine, the Covid-19 pandemic, and immigration concerns.