The Austrian press is talking about an “overwhelming victory” for the Freedom Party (FPÖ), referring to the result of yesterday’s elections.

Herbert Kickl’s far-right party wins first place since 1945, leaving Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s center-right People’s Party (ÖVP) in second place and the Socialist Party (SPÖ) in third. However, forming a government will not be an easy task.

According to the final results, which were made public a while ago, the FPÖ gathered 28.8%, increasing its strength by 12.6 points from the 2019 election, confirming opinion polls that wanted it closer to 29%. The ÖVP lost 11.1 points to 26.3%, while the SPÖ remained at 21.1%, 0.08% lower than in the previous election. The liberal NEOS moved into fourth place with 9.25% (+1.1%), leaving behind the co-ruling Greens with 8.3% and losses of 5.6 points.

Based on percentages, three two-party coalitions are mathematically possible: FPÖ-ÖVP, a pattern that has already been repeated twice and would have 108 out of 183 seats; the classic ÖVP-SPÖ “grand” coalition, but with only 93 seats and a majority of one seats and the — rather unlikely — FPÖ-SPÖ and 97 seats. There is certainly a possibility of a three-party coalition, with the participation of one of the smaller parties. Chancellor Karl Nehammer has not ruled out the possibility of a new coalition with the Freedom Party, but rejects cooperation with Herbert Kickl himself, even though the latter has repeatedly stated that he wishes to become “the people’s chancellor”.

Federal President Alexander van der Bellen (Greens) has left it unclear to whom he will entrust the mandate to form a government. He said he would hold talks with all parties. “Now is the time to reach out to each other, to find solutions and compromises. It may take some time, but it will be time well spent,” said the president, who had previously hinted he might refuse to give the order to Mr Kickle.

“Triumph of the FPÖ: the demonization of Herbert Kickl failed (…) His victory is a case for the history books,” writes the newspaper Kurier, while Der Standard reports that “Kickl won in historic fashion” and Die Presse refers to “Triumph for Kikl” and an election result which is “equivalent to a political earthquake”. Kronen Zeitung describes the election result as “an era change” for the Austrian parliament.

The elections in Austria are covered extensively by the German media. The Süddeutsche Zeitung reckons that the ÖVP, if it wants to continue to govern, will have to look for partnerships outside the FPÖ, as, even with another in the chancellery, “any FPÖ is the party of Kikl”. At the same time, “does anyone seriously believe that after his triumph on Sunday, Herbert Kickle will be ready to retire immediately and let others reap his harvest?”, notes the columnist. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports that under Herbert Kickl, the Freedom Party is becoming increasingly radicalized and is not limited to xenophobic positions, but insults its political opponents and does not hide its closeness to far-right extremists. Frankfurter Rundschau speaks of a “danger signal”, even if the FPÖ does not enter the chancellery.

Who is Herbert Kickle?

The winner of the election is perhaps the most polarizing politician in Austria. His provocative rhetoric and at least controversial statements do not allow him to go unnoticed, although the 55-year-old FPÖ leader is considered rather out of touch.

“Asylum seekers should from now on all gather in one place,” he has said, referring to immigration, which was interpreted as an indirect reference to concentration camps, while statements like “more courage for our Viennese blood — many foreigners do not good for nobody,” probably need no comment, nor do his dictums that “laws should follow politics and not politics the laws” and that immigrants should be deported even without judicial process.

In the same spirit, during his tenure as interior minister, he has declared that human rights agreements “prevent us from doing what we should”. Recent incidents, with the cancellation of Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna due to an Islamist threat and the Bosnian-born Austrian being found armed in front of the Israeli consulate in Munich, have only thrown more grist to his mill.

In the run-up to the election, Herbert Kickl also made sure to “wipe out” anything still to his right, “adopting” Martin Zellner’s “Identity Movement,” which he described as “an interesting venture worth supporting” and “non-governmental organization”.

However, regardless of how Mr. Kickl sees him, Martin Zellner is a leading figure in neo-Nazi activism in Europe, the initiator of the “Madagascar Plan” (it envisages the mandatory deportation of millions of immigrants to a country that will welcome them, in exchange for financial compensation), which , as revealed, was discussing a year ago with German like-minded people from the Alternative for Germany (AfD), in a secret meeting in Brandenburg. He has since been banned from entering Germany.

Mr. Kickl supports Vladimir Putin and continued energy supplies from Russia. In March 2022, he said that both sides were responsible for the war in Ukraine and that the sanctions imposed on Russia were a violation of Austria’s neutrality, which he resented the withdrawal of Russian money. When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Austrian parliament, Herbert Kickl ostentatiously walked out of the room.

His attitude is consistently part of the effort to “sell” himself as incorruptible and anti-systemic. Herbert Kickle, who studied Philosophy and History but never got a degree, apprenticed as a letter writer under Georg Heider and eventually succeeded in surpassing his teacher.

Reactions

With the announcement of the first results, demonstrations against the extreme right were immediately organized in Vienna.

The International Auschwitz Committee, which was founded by survivors of the Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, issued a statement noting that “the rise of the far right adds a new, disturbing chapter” to the fears and concerns of Holocaust survivors. Commission vice-president Christoph Heubner expressed the hope that “Austrian democrats will oppose the oblivion of history and the ideology of old and new far-right extremists, for the good of the country and Europe.”