Austria has turned to the right

The list of Sebastian Kurz and the new People’s Party of Austria (ÖVP) is the winner of the parliamentary elections in Austria, according to preliminary results released on Sunday evening. Although the radical right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) has fallen to third place compared to previous results, it is believed that Austria will be governed by a coalition of the People’s Party and the Freedom Party for the next four years, led by the new Chancellor Kurz.

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“This is the right opportunity for change in our country. These elections obligate us to change, and I accept this task with great humility,” said Sebastian Kurz after the estimates were published based on the majority of incoming results.

“I can promise you today that I will fight with all my strength for change in this country,” emphasized the 31-year-old former head of diplomacy and future prime minister.

According to estimates from Sunday after 10 PM, the ÖVP won 31.7 percent of the votes, which is almost eight percent better than in the 2013 elections.

The previous ruling Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) follows with 26.8 percent.

The Freedom Party (FPÖ) is estimated to have won 26 percent of the votes, which is six percent more than in the last elections.

The Green Party, which has experienced a split since the last elections, is unlikely to enter the National Council, as the Austrian parliament is called. The Greens have fallen below the electoral threshold of 4 percent from a record result of 12.4 percent four years ago. The liberal party Neos managed to enter parliament with 5.1 percent, as did the list of Peter Pilz, a former member of the Greens, which won 4.3 percent.

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“Now it is up to us to defend an open, modern, democratic, and diverse Austria,” said the outgoing Chancellor, Social Democrat Christian Kern, in his first reactions after his SPO lost to the conservatives in elections that gave a strong boost to the Austrian radical right.

“The elections showed that we have reached the center of society. We are the ones who dominated the political debate,” said Heinz-Christian Strache, the leader of the right-wing Freedom Party (FPO), in his first comments after his party’s good result in the elections.

Stricter policies of the new coalition towards refugees and foreigners are expected

Although Kurz stated that he would talk to all parties in order to form a coalition, observers estimate that due to similarities, especially in the area of refugee policy and immigration policy, the ÖVP and FPÖ will quickly find common ground. The previous coalition between the social democrats and the people’s party is unlikely, as this coalition collapsed in May after years of disputes over the implementation of the coalition agreement.

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The situation between the two largest Austrian political parties further deteriorated during the election campaign when it was revealed that the social democrats from the SPÖ financed several Facebook pages through an intermediary company that spread negative rumors about Sebastian Kurz.

It is expected that the People’s-Freedom government led by Sebastian Kurz will adopt much stricter guidelines regarding refugee policy and thus become a counterbalance to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who advocates a more liberal refugee policy.

During the refugee campaign, Kurz advocated a tougher policy against illegal immigration and called for increased efforts against the abuse of the Austrian social system by foreigners. In doing so, Kurz effectively “took away” traditional themes from the FPÖ, which the freedom party repeatedly emphasized during the election campaign.

The Visegrad Path

It is expected that such a government will adopt much stricter guidelines within the European debate on the distribution of refugees and align itself with the Visegrad countries that advocate strengthening national interests within the European Union. FPÖ President Heinz-Christian Strache, who could hold the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs in the new government, has repeatedly stated that he will advocate for Austria to join the Visegrad Group.

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The German Christian Social Union (CSU), which represents the Christian democratic option in Bavaria, which borders Austria, expressed satisfaction with Sebastian Kurz’s victory.

“Kurz will be a close partner of Bavaria as the new Chancellor, especially in the great task of limiting immigration to Europe,” said CSU Secretary General Andreas Scheuer to the dpa agency.

Angela Merkel’s spokesperson announced that the German Chancellor congratulated Kurz on his victory.

The next parliamentary elections in Austria were supposed to be held next year, but early elections were called after Sebastian Kurz dissolved the previous social democratic-people’s coalition in May.

The National Council in Austria is elected for a period of five years.