Far right in Austria projected to win tight election race

Austria’s far-right Freedom Party is heading for an unprecedented general election victory under leader Herbert Kickl, projections say.

The projections, based on initial results, give Kickl’s party 29.1% – almost three points ahead of the conservative People’s Party on 26.2%, but far short of a majority.

The Freedom Party (FPÖ) has been in coalition before, but the second-placed conservative People’s Party has refused to take part in a government led by him.

Kickl’s main rival, incumbent Chancellor Karl Nehammer of the People Party (ÖVP), has said it’s “impossible to form a government with someone who adores conspiracy theories.”

Some 6.3 million Austrians were eligible to vote in a race dominated by the twin issues of migration and asylum, as well as inflation and the war in Ukraine.

Freedom Party general secretary Michael Schnedlitz was delighted with the initial projections, declaring that “the men and women of Austria have made history today.” He refused to say what kind of coalition his party would try to build.

They are on course to secure about 57 seats in the 183-seat parliament, with the Conservatives on 51 and the Social Democrats on 41.

Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl has promised Austrians to build “Fortress Austria”, to restore their security, prosperity and peace.

He has also spoken of becoming Volkskanzler (people’s chancellor) which for some Austrians carries echoes of the term used to describe Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany.