For the first time, the extreme right wins the elections in Austria. This is indicated by the preliminary results after the parliamentary elections on Sunday. “The Party of Freedom“ took 28.8% of the votes, which is an improvement of 13% compared to the previous elections, NOVA reported.
„When I say we have entered history, I mean two things. On the one hand, we entered party history, Jörg Haider's infamous 26.9%, which we skipped today. He would be proud of us. And the second thing is that we entered Austrian history, because for the first time the “Freedom Party” is number one in the parliamentary elections. And just think how far we have come,”, said the leader of the Austrian Freedom Party, Herbert Kickle.
The previous rulers from the “People's Party” of Chancellor Karl Nehammer are second and receive 26% of the vote. They are giving signals that they might ally with the winners, but they don't want Herbert Kickle to be chancellor. Voter turnout was high and reached 78%.
The election was dominated by migration and asylum issues, as well as the weakening economy and the war in Ukraine. Thus, the issue of Bulgarian membership in land-based Schengen remains unclear.