Refer Report

In Austria, a far-right political party founded mainly by people with a history of Nazi SS took first place in the general election on the 29th (local time). This is the first time in Austria that a far-right party has taken first place in a general election since World War II.

The Austrian Freedom Party, led by Herbert Kieckl, took first place with 29.2% of the votes in the general election held on this day. The ruling center-right People’s Party ranked second with 26.5%, followed by the center-left Social Democratic Party with 21%.

The Austrian Freedom Party was founded in 1956 by Anton Reinthaler, who had served in the Nazi SS (SS). It ranked second in vote percentage in 2017 and formed a coalition with the People’s Party, but this is the first time it has ranked first. The Austrian Freedom Party grew rapidly, arguing against illegal immigration and support for Ukraine under Russian invasion. In last June’s European Parliament elections, it won 6 of the 20 seats allocated to Austria with the highest vote percentage (25.4%).

After the final vote results were announced, Representative Kikl said, “We have opened the door to a new era,” and insisted that the Austrian Freedom Party participate in forming the next coalition government.

In Europe, far-right parties have recently taken power or have grown to the point of taking power. Giorgia Meloni, who leads the far-right political party Brothers of Italy, came to power in 2022. In France, when the far-right National Rally (RN) came in first place in the early general election on June 30, the left and center-right parties united and barely pushed it to third place in the runoff vote in early July. The German far-right party ‘Alternative for Germany’ (AfD) became the first far-right party since World War II in the Thuringian state legislative elections held on September 1.

Berlin/Correspondent Jang Ye-ji penj@hani.co.kr

Source: Korean