What happens after the elections in Austria? “A very complicated phase is to be expected”

This is a day of victory for the entire far right in Europe. – We have opened the door to a new era. Now together we will write this new chapter in the history of Austria, announces the leader of the Freedom Party of Austria, Herbert Kickl.

“Another victory for patriots: victory for the Freedom Party of Austria! Congratulations to Herbert Kickel!” – we read in the entry by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Viktor Orban's joy is not surprising. With a turnout of 78 percent, his Austrian ally won the greatest public support in the parliamentary elections, achieving almost 29 percent of the votes. In second place was the currently ruling center-right People's Party. The center-left took third place.

– This is a historic result. First of all, it has never happened before in history that the Freedom Party came first. Secondly, the two traditionally largest parties – the Social Democrats and the People's Party – did not win even 50 percent of the votes, comments Thomas Hofer, a political analyst.

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The Russia-friendly, nationalist Freedom Party of Austria was founded in the 1950s by former SS members. It is currently headed by Herbert Kickl, who served in Sebastian Kurz's government in 2017-2019 as Minister of Interior.

Kickl promises, among other things, to reform the European Union. It is to do this together with the Hungarian Fidesz and the Czech ANO movement of former Prime Minister Andrej Babisz. In June, these three politicians founded an alliance in the European Parliament called Patriots for Europe.

“Congratulations to Herbert Kickel and the Freedom Party of Austria for winning the parliamentary elections! Viktor Orban rightly noted that Patriots for Europe is becoming stronger day by day,” writes former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babisz on the X platform.

One of Kickel's more important election promises for the country is to limit migration and maintain the country's military neutrality, i.e. not to join NATO. The demands also included maintaining supplies of Russian gas, on which Austria is almost completely dependent.

– I hope that the Freedom Party of Austria will take responsibility and show that it can fulfill what it promised before the elections – comments Peter Goldgruber, a voter of the Freedom Party of Austria.

The question is whether there will be a chance for this at all. Kickl does not have a majority to govern on its own, and a coalition with the center-right – at least at this stage – seems unlikely.

– I think we should expect a very complicated phase of coalition formation. On the one hand, it would be logical for the People's Party to join forces with the Freedom Party of Austria. However, the People's Party would have to agree to their chancellor, and they certainly want to avoid this, says Thomas Hofer.

The Polish scenario is likely, i.e. one in which the winning party will remain in the opposition.

– This is not good for Austria and I hope that Kickl will not become chancellor and that one day he will simply disappear – says Irene Kaniz, a resident of Vienna.

-Two-party coalitions have never really worked. A tripartite coalition does not work at all, as exemplified by Germany. If nothing changes, the next time the shift to the right in Austria will be even more noticeable, comments Karin Grobert, a resident of Vienna.

Kickl is aware that another five years in opposition can give him an even greater victory. – I would warn against ignoring the will of the people – he said in a post-election discussion on Austrian television with leaders of other parties.