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2024 EUROPEAN ELECTIONS

UPDATED: Austria’s far-right party tops EU elections

Austria's far-right FPOe party came first in the Alpine country's EU elections on Sunday, according to close-to-final results, marking the first time the group has won a nationwide ballot.

Published: 9 June 2024 21:46 CEST
Updated: 10 June 2024 08:02 CEST
UPDATED: Austria's far-right party tops EU elections
Top candidate for the election to the European Parliament Helmuth Brandstaetter of the NEOS party attends a television discussion in Vienna on June 9, 2024. (Photo by Alex HALADA / AFP)

The Freedom Party (FPOe) gained 25.7 percent of the votes, just ahead of the ruling conservative People’s Party (OeVP) which stood at 24.7 percent, results published by Austrian media showed with almost all the votes counted.

The Social Democrats (SPOe) followed in third place at 23.2 percent, trailed by the Greens — which currently rule Austria as junior partners of the conservatives — at 10.7 percent, down from 14 percent in 2019.

The conservatives slumped from the almost 35 percent they had gained in the last EU elections.

Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he had heard voters’ “message” and would seek to address their concerns ahead of national elections later this year, including cracking down on “illegal migration”.

The anti-immigrant FPOe’s share surged on the other hand — it was up from 17 percent in 2019, when the party suffered from a string of corruption scandals.

Taken over by radical leader Herbert Kickl in 2021, its success is attributed above all due to his rebellious Covid anti-vaccination stance.

On Sunday, Kickl, 55, hailed “the history that the voters have written” to open “a new era in politics in Austria and Europe”.

“This era is characterised by the fact that it is the people who are at the centre and not the disconnected elites of the system,” he told cheering supporters in downtown Vienna, adding the “next step is the chancellery”.

International media were barred from the party event, with the FPOe citing space restrictions.

The FPOe is also expected to top the vote in national elections expected to be held in September, but it remains to be seen if it can find partners to form a majority to govern.

The party — founded in the 1950s by former Nazis — has been part of a ruling coalition several times but has never governed.

During the pandemic, the party seized on anger over strict measures such as nationwide lockdowns and a mandatory vaccination law that was later scrapped.

On the war in Ukraine, Kickl has defended Austria’s neutrality, criticising the EU sanctions against Moscow.

During the campaign, the party put up posters showing European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen hugging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, urging voters to “stop the EU madness”.

In total, 6.4 million people were eligible to vote in Austria, which has 20 seats in the 720-seat EU parliament. Seven parties fielded candidates.

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POLITICS

‘Laughing stock of Europe’: What’s the new crisis to hit Austria’s coalition government?

Austria's environment minister went against the government's will and voted in favour of controversial EU legislation. Chancellor Nehammer now accuses the minister of 'abuse of office'.

Published: 17 June 2024 13:50 CEST
'Laughing stock of Europe': What's the new crisis to hit Austria's coalition government?

It’s the latest crisis between centre-right ÖVP and its junior Green coalition partners. This one will make its way up to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), according to statements given by Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) on Monday (17).

This is due to the fact that Austria’s Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler broke with coalition partners to help pass a controversial EU-level law. “I know I will face opposition in Austria on this, but I am convinced that this is the time to adopt this law,” Gewessler told reporters.

The Federal Chancellery promptly responded to Gewessler’s unilateral action: “Austria will bring an action for annulment before the ECJ,” it said. Her vote was “not in line with the domestic will and therefore could not be cast in accordance with the constitution”, the Chancellor’s office said.

READ ALSO: Europe warned it must do more to deal with climate crisis

Gewessler will be charged with suspected abuse of office, ÖVP Secretary General Christian Stocker announced in a press release.

“There is a suspicion that Leonore Gewessler is acting unlawfully and knowingly against the clear guidelines of the Constitutional Service and against the constitution with her approval of the ordinance – this constitutes abuse of office,” Stocker said.

What was voted?

At the core of the discussion is a controversial EU law known as the “EU nature restoration law”. The legislation mandates the restoration of at least 20 percent of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030 to restore all ecosystems in need by 2050. This landmark bill aims to address the decline of Europe’s natural habitats, a significant portion of which are currently assessed as being in poor condition.

The legislation includes specific targets for various ecosystems, including peatlands, forests, grasslands, wetlands, rivers, lakes, and coral beds. Member states are required to improve at least 30 percent of these habitats by 2030, with this target increasing to 60 percent by 2040 and 90 percent by 2050.

The conservative ÖVP party has been against the regulations, consistently reasserting Austria’s abstention vote for two years now since the EU Commission presented the package that included the “nature restoration law.” 

But now, Gewessler’s rogue vote was crucial for the legislation to pass. Austria’s vote, which was a mystery until the very end, was decisive.

Although a clear majority of states voted in favour anyway, the necessary quorum of 65 percent of EU residents was only achieved because of Austria. In the end, 66.07 percent of the EU population voted in favour of the law.

Can Gewessler vote against the Chancellery decision?

That’s complicated, and the courts will decide. 

The Chancellor argues that Austria had already been notified to abstain, a position based on “a uniform opinion of the Regional Governments (Bundesländer), binding for the Federal Government under Austrian constitutional law, as well as the lacking consensus within the Austrian Federal Government ”. 

He means that Austrian states have also agreed not to back the proposal. However, in May, two states, Vienna and Carinthia, pulled out of this vote, as Der Standard reported. This makes it unclear, even among constitutional lawyers, whether there is still a “uniform opinion” and whether Gewessler would be bound by it, the report added.

READ ALSO: Why Vienna is a haven for wild animals – and where you can find them

Criticism from SPÖ and far-right

The SPÖ and FPÖ criticised Gewessler and Nehammer for their actions on Monday. The two had made Austria “the laughing stock of Europe”, said SPÖ climate spokesperson Julia Herr in a press statement. 

“What we are currently experiencing is basically the continuation of the last five years of black-green, only with tougher strikes because the election is approaching,” she said.

Meanwhile, far-right FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl demanded that Nehammer take responsibility for Gewessler’s “ideology-driven solo effort”. In his opinion, the law meant the “death” of domestic agriculture and the security of supply with domestic food.

The major environmental NGOs were very pleased with the approval of Gewessler’s EU nature restoration law: Greenpeace spoke of a “milestone” in a press release, the WWF saw “historic progress”, and Global 2000 saw an “important tool in the fight against the biodiversity crisis and the climate crisis”.

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