Far-right Freedom Party Finishes First In Austrian Polls

The Freedom Party has secured the first far-right national parliamentary election victory in post-World War II Austria, finishing ahead of the governing conservatives. Preliminary official results showed the Freedom Party finishing first with 29.2% of the vote and Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s Austrian People’s Party was second with 26.5%. The outgoing government — a coalition of Nehammer's party and the environmentalist Greens — lost its majority in the lower house of parliament. Herbert Kickl, a former minister and longtime campaign strategist who has led the Freedom Party since 2021, wants to be chancellor. But to become Austria’s new leader, he would need a coalition partner to command a parliamentary majority. Rivals have said they won’t work with Kickl in government.