Austria is having general elections this weekend and what we have seen from surveys and research, there is a good chance that Herbert Kickl’s Freedom Party will prevail, for the first time since its existence and with that, an even tougher stance on migration could be assumed.
Voters’ top concerns as they head to the polls this weekend in Austria is immigration. According to recent polls, the far-right Freedom Party, which opposes immigration, may receive the most votes.
“Hardly any political debate these days can take place without including the themes of migration,” as Austria’s state broadcaster ORF recently stated.
In their reporting, InfoMigrants highlights how important immigration is to the Austrian people. Along with the economy and the war in Ukraine, it is a topic that voters of all leanings consider “very important,” according to a poll conducted by the broadcaster.
As the nation gets ready for Sunday, September 29, elections, the latest polls indicate that the results could be historic: the right-wing populist Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) appears to be the front-runner for the first time. According to polls, they will receive 27–29 percent of the vote. The European polling and voting trends platform Politpro reports that since the 2019 elections, the FPÖ has increased its voting share by more than 10%.
Since 2022, the party – headed by 55-year-old marathon runner and climber Herbert Kickl – has been in the lead in opinion polls, according to the Guardian newspaper. In the European elections held in May, it also garnered the largest percentage of votes from Austrian voters.According to political analysts, Kickl has benefited from the nation’s and most of Europe’s skyrocketing inflation as well as discontent with the current coalition between the Greens and conservatives in power.
“Austria First,” the Freedom Party’s election program, is a reference to Donald Trump’s earlier “America First” campaign. In Austria, the Freedom Party is predicted to receive between 25% and nearly 30% of the vote. It has pledged to reduce social benefits for undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers, obstruct family reunification opportunities even for those who have already arrived in Austria, and advance the xenophobic “remigration” policy under the banner of “Fortress Austria, Fortress of Freedom”.