Foreign Affairs

Nazi-Founded Party Wins Austrian Election
[VIDEO]
September 29, 2024

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Austria goes back to the future as voters embrace far-right party founded by Nazis

Euroskeptic Freedom Party storms to victory on promise to erect “Fortress Austria.”


A vandalized election campaign billboards showing Herbet Kickl of the far-right Austria Freedom Party. | Thomas Kronsteiner/Getty Images

SEPTEMBER 29, 2024 5:16 PM CET
BY MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG

GRAZ, Austria — Austria veered to the right in a watershed election on Sunday as the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) stormed to victory, marking the first time since World War II that a party rooted in Nazi ideology prevailed in a national ballot.

The anti-migrant, Russia-friendly FPÖ won more than 29 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results, putting it about three points ahead of the center-right Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), which currently leads the government. The ÖVP suffered a record loss to finish with 26 percent.

“The results today couldn’t have been clearer,” Herbert Kickl, the FPÖ’s leader and chief ideologue, told Austrian public television, insisting that his party should lead the next government.

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