Austria’s far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) appears set to win the popular vote on Sunday in what would be a historic first.The FPO has been outpolling the governing centre-right Austrian People’s Party (OVP) and the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPO) for the past year, partly driven by opposition to immigration.
“Anti-migration sentiment is now rising, empowered by the latest East German elections and success of the Alternative for Deutschland (AfD),” University of Helsinki lecturer in Eastern European studies Katalin Miklossy told Al Jazeera.
Germany’s far-right AfD became the first party in that country to win a state election three weeks ago, coming ahead of mainstream parties in Thuringia. It also performed well in Saxony.
“The German chancellor promised in desperation to close borders and send back illegal immigrants,” said Miklossy.
Now the Austrian far right seems set for another breakthrough.
The FPO’s campaign worries sceptics. FPO leader Herbert Kickl calls himself Volkskanzler, a “people’s chancellor”, the title used by Adolph Hitler in the 1930s. He supports a constitutional amendment recognising two sexes, effectively outlawing non-binary genders, a position advocated by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party. The FPO m …
