Summary of the day
Preliminary results from Austria’s general election showed the far-right Freedom party (FPÖ) winning the most votes for the first time in the postwar period.
The party rode a tide of public anger over migration and the cost of living, and was projected to win 29% of the vote.
The centre-right Austrian People’s party (ÖVP) was projected to come in second place with 26.3%, while the Social Democratic party (SPÖ) was at 21%.
Because it failed to win an absolute majority, the FPÖ will need a partner to govern.
The ÖVP’s Karl Nehammer, Austria’s chancellor, has said that the FPÖ’s Herbert Kickl as chancellor would be a non-starter, setting up a potential showdown in which the FPÖ would have to either jettison Kickl or take a back seat in government to win the ÖVP’s support.
Far-right parties across Europe congratulated the FPÖ on its projected result.
Updated
Karl Nehammer said his party will stand by what it has promised before the election.
Wir haben gemeinsam gekämpft! Für Stabilität und die politische Mitte im Land. Die Volkspartei ist stärker, als viele es für möglich gehalten haben. Selbstverständlich stehen wir auch nach Wahl zu dem, was wir unseren Wählerinnen und Wählern davor versprochen haben. pic.twitter.com/6IjFYvq35g
— Karl Nehammer (@karlnehammer) September 29, 2024
Here are the updated projections from ORF:
The Social Democrats’ Andreas Babler has said that now it’s about negotiations and he is ruling out a coalition with the FPÖ.
Jetzt geht es um Verhandlungen. Die führe ich aber nicht in einem Fernsehstudio. Was ich selbstverständlich ausschließe, ist eine Koalition mit der FPÖ.@AndiBabler in der Runde der Spitzenkandidat:innen bei #ServusTV. #nrw24 #Wahl2024 #NRWahl24
— SPÖ (@SPOE_at) September 29, 2024
Christian Stocker, the centre-right ÖVP’s general secretary, has said the party is united behind Karl Nehammer.
He also said the party does not want to enter a coalition with Herbert Kickl.
Die Funktionäre sind in den letzten Tagen und Wochen für unseren Bundesparteiobmann @karlnehammer gelaufen. Ich bedanke mich herzlich für das Vertrauen, das die Wählerinnen und Wähler uns geschenkt haben. Die Volkspartei steht einig und geschlossen hinter unserem… pic.twitter.com/C8VBwvwvHa
— Christian Stocker (@_CStocker) September 29, 2024
Das Endergebnis liegt noch nicht vor - das werden wir abwarten und schauen, welche Mehrheiten sich ausgehen. Wir haben gesagt: Mit Herbert Kickl wollen wir keine Koalition eingehen. Dabei bleiben wir. #nehammer24 #wahl24 #atv #puls pic.twitter.com/2GKjga7fIv
— Christian Stocker (@_CStocker) September 29, 2024
Updated
Because it failed to win an absolute majority, the far-right Freedom party (FPÖ) will need a partner to govern.
Unlike the other centrist parties, the centre-right People’s party (ÖVP) has not ruled out cooperating with the far right in the next government, as it has twice in the past in taboo-breaking alliances at the national level.
The Austrian chancellor, ÖVP’s Karl Nehammer, however, has said that FPÖ lead candidate Herbert Kickl, a former hardline interior minister, as chancellor would be a non-starter, setting up a potential showdown in which the FPÖ would have to either jettison Kickl or take a back seat in government to win the ÖVP’s support.
Kickl, a bespectacled marathon runner, was a protege of Jörg Haider. The former firebrand FPÖ leader and Carinthia state premier, who died in 2008 in a drink-driving crash, transformed the party founded by ex-Nazi functionaries and SS officers into the nationalist, anti-Islam outfit it is today.
The far-right Freedom party’s Herbert Kickl has said he is ready for talks with everyone.
Updated
Andreas Babler, leader of the Social Democratic party, has said that he is prepared to enter into exploratory talks with the centre-right Austrian People’s party (ÖVP), ORF reported.
Updated
Karl Nehammer, Austria’s chancellor, has said that he wants to stay on as leader of the Austrian People’s party.
And here are the latest ORF projections.
Freedom party members celebrated early projections today.
Preliminary results showed Austria’s far-right Freedom party (FPÖ) winning the most votes in a general election for the first time in the postwar period as it rode a tide of public anger over migration and the cost of living.
“Austrians made history tonight,” FPÖ general secretary Michael Schnedlitz told public broadcaster ORF at his party’s election night celebration. “You can clearly see that change has come.”
The ÖVP tried to put a brave face on the result, which will send shockwaves through Europe. “We didn’t manage to get first place, but we made up a lot of lost ground in recent weeks,” its general secretary, Christian Stocker, said. “Governing means confronting tough realities and we’ve done that in the last years.”
Updated
And here are updated projections, from ORF.
A member of the European parliament from Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party has also congratulated Austria’s far-right Freedom party.
💪🏻🇦🇹Very nice!
— András László MEP 🇭🇺 (@laszloan) September 29, 2024
After Patriots winning in Czechia,
congratulations to @FPOE_TV for winning the federal elections in Austria!
Only @PatriotsEP will bring change to Brussels!@vilimsky @CGStroehm @PatriotsEU https://t.co/oSNNq8FCcS
Far-right figures from Spain and Belgium have welcomed the projected results in Austria.
Tras la victoria de @PatriotsEU en las elecciones regionales de Chequia, @FPOE_TV nuestros colegas austriacos vencen en las elecciones generales en Austria. Felicidades a @vilimsky y a su partido. Y a todos los austriacos. El camino correcto. pic.twitter.com/2sQGM6RxpJ
— Jorge Buxadé (@Jorgebuxade) September 29, 2024
Zeer overtuigende overwinning van onze vrienden en partners van de Oostenrijkse FPö ! Inspirerende versterking van @PatriotsEU en van ons gedachtengoed pic.twitter.com/1M8YRyAB08
— Gerolf Annemans (@gannemans) September 29, 2024
Far-right Freedom party at 29%: updated projection
Here is an updated projection from ORF.
The far-right Freedom party is at 29%.
Updated
Alice Weidel of the German far-right party Alternative für Deutschland has congratulated the Freedom party.
Die FPÖ ist laut 1. Hochrechnung stärkste Kraft! Herzlichen Glückwunsch an Herbert Kickl & die @FPOE_TV! pic.twitter.com/lJPzgKM44e
— Alice Weidel (@Alice_Weidel) September 29, 2024
Updated
The far-right Freedom party is celebrating the first projections, which show the party got the most votes in today’s election in Austria.
Danke Österreich! 💙🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/LsTC32t4TD
— FPÖ (@FPOE_TV) September 29, 2024
Here are the latest images from Vienna.
Here’s the projected seat distribution, from ORF:
Far-right MEP Harald Vilimsky has thanked voters.
DANKE!
— Harald Vilimsky (@vilimsky) September 29, 2024
Far right got most votes in Austria's election, first projections show
The far right got the most votes in today’s election, according to first projections.
Far-right Freedom party (FPÖ): 29.1%
Centre-right Austrian People’s party (ÖVP): 26.2%
Social Democratic party (SPÖ): 20.4%
NEOS-New Austria: 8.8%
Greens: 8.6%
Updated
Polls have closed. We are now waiting for the first projections.
The last polls will close in Austria in 15 minutes.
Stay tuned for first projections and reactions.
Austria’s far right rides wave of public anger
Fear, uncertainty and suspicion ran high in Klagenfurt, southern Austria, before today’s high-stakes parliamentary election, in which the far-right Freedom party (FPÖ) could become the strongest force in the country for the first time in the postwar period.
For at least a week, and some local people say much longer, the tap water in this city of baroque facades and a stunning Alpine lake has been contaminated with faecal bacteria and unsafe to drink.
No one – not the government or environmental officials – has managed to ascertain the cause although baseless theories involving poisoned wells, migrants and other scapegoats run wild in pubs and the darker corners of the internet. Nor is a solution in sight. “Plan C”, as the public works chief, Erwin Smole, has described flushing pipes with diluted chlorine, is still being considered after other measures failed.
As local citizens picked up their free drinking water in plastic bottles from a distribution point at a convention centre, the pessimism and outrage over the political class that have fuelled the rise of the far right across Europe was plain to see.
“I haven’t decided who to vote for – it’s hard to trust anyone these days,” said hospital nurse Elisabeth Liftenegger, 55, summing up the anti-incumbent sentiment as she loaded up a shopping trolley with potable water.
What is the FPÖ?
One of Europe’s oldest far-right parties, the FPÖ was founded in 1956. Despite being initially headed by a former Nazi functionary and SS officer, it was a relatively moderate liberal party until the mid-1980s, when it veered radically right under the firebrand leader Jörg Haider.
The party has twice been the junior partner in short-lived coalition governments with the conservative Austrian People’s party (ÖVP), after finishing second in the parliamentary elections of 1999 with 27% of the vote and third in 2017 with 26% of the vote.
Both coalitions ended early. Bitter FPÖ infighting led to the collapse of the first in 2002, and the so-called Ibizagate scandal in 2019 forced the resignation of the party’s then leader, Heinz-Christian Strache, and torpedoed the second after 18 months in office.
Now led by the controversial former interior minister Herbert Kickl, the FPÖ is nativist, anti-immigration, hostile to Islam and staunchly Eurosceptic. One of its MEPs, Harald Vilimsky, has described its electoral mission as “kicking the establishment in the butt”.
The FPÖ’s programme, “Fortress Austria, Fortress of Freedom”, plans to cut provision for irregular migrants and asylum seekers to a bare minimum, block family reunification for migrants already in Austria, and promote “remigration”, particularly for offenders.
It also wants to cut corporate tax and wage costs, and in foreign policy it is opposed to EU sanctions against Russia and further aid to Ukraine. The FPÖ has signed and renewed a “cooperation agreement” with Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party.
Here are some images from election day in Austria.
‘Moment of truth’ for Austria as far right senses election triumph
Austrians are going to the polls today.
Riding a far-right surge in many parts of Europe, the pro-Kremlin, anti-migration Freedom party (FPÖ) and its leader, Herbert Kickl, are capitalising on fears around migration, asylum and crime heightened by the August cancellation of three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna over an alleged Islamist terror plot.
Mounting inflation, tepid economic growth and lingering resentment over strict government measures during Covid have dovetailed into an 11-point leap in the polls for the FPÖ since the last election in 2019.
Polling shows the election on a knife-edge, with the far right in the lead at 27%, two points ahead of the ÖVP of Chancellor Karl Nehammer.
The opposition Social Democrats (SPÖ) look set for third place with about 21%.
Despite devastating flooding this month from Storm Boris bringing the climate crisis to the fore, the Greens are on just 8%, nearly six points off their 2019 result.
Given the electoral maths, any winner will require a coalition to form a government.
The first polling stations opened at or shortly before 7am (0500 GMT). Projections are due minutes after polls close at 5pm, with results being finessed over the ensuing hours.
Welcome to the blog
Good afternoon and welcome to a special edition of the Europe blog, focused on today’s election in Austria.
Stay tuned for results, reaction and analysis.
Send thoughts and tips to lili.bayer@theguardian.com.
