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

The Social Democratic Party finished third, recording the worst result in its history with 21 percent. The Greens, who govern alongside the ÖVP in the current government, also suffered a steep decline in support to finish with just eight percent.  The liberal NEOS, meanwhile, were the other winners of the night, finishing with over nine percent.

Turnout was strong, with nearly 80 percent of eligible Austrians casting ballots.

Austria’s far-right swing is another worrying sign for Europe, signaling that a recent surge by populist forces shows no sign of abating. FPÖ leaders regard Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has systematically dismantled democratic freedoms in his country, as a model and have promised to follow his lead.  

If the FPÖ succeeds in building a coaliton, the European Union would be faced with a Euroskeptic populist bloc encompassing Austria, Hungary and Slovakia, and possibly the Czech Republic after an election there next year.

The FPÖ, founded in the 1950s by former members of the SS and other Nazi veterans, ran on an anti-foreigner platform this election, vowing to erect a “Fortress Austria” to keep out migrants.

Kickl promised voters that if they handed him the win, he would serve as their Volkskanzler, or “people’s chancellor,” a moniker once used by Adolf Hitler.