European far-right and nationalist parties are celebrating the hard-right Freedom Party’s win in Austria’s election. Even though it’s uncertain whether hard-line leader Herbert Kickl will be able to take his vision of a “Fortress Austria” into government, the party’s electoral success could nudge politics further in its direction. The Euroskeptic and pro-Russian Freedom Party won a record 29.2% of the vote, gaining 13 percentage points from the 2019 election. Kickl needs a coalition partner to govern, and other parties say they won’t work with him. Two mainstream parties that governed Austria for most of the time since the end of World War II were hit by voter anger about immigration and inflation and together have such a thin parliamentary majority that they would likely need a third partner to govern. The Freedom Party is part of a right-wing populist alliance in the European Parliament, Patriots for Europe. Its members, including Viktor Orbán, Geert Wilders, and Marine Le Pen, welcomed the Austrian result as building on gains in other countries, including in European elections in June. For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective on Austria’s hard pivot to the right, FRANCE 24’s Gavin Lee is joined by Jacques Rupnik, Central Europe Specialist and Director of Research at Sciences Po’s Centre of International Research.
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