Styrian reactions

“The EU Parliament election is not a regional election”

FPÖ leader Mario Kunasek (left) and Governor Christopher Drexler (ÖVP)

(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz, Krone KREATIV)

The EU election is over, the final result for Styria is in: FPÖ 28.1%, ÖVP 25.6%, SPÖ 20.6%, Greens 9.5%, Neos 9.1%, KPÖ 3.6%, DNA 3.6%. The FPÖ celebrated, the Neos and Communists were satisfied, but there were long faces at the ÖVP, which lost eleven percentage points compared to 2019.  

Although the Styrian ÖVP is sending Reinhold Lopatka, a Styrian, to Brussels, it would naturally have liked a better result. 25.6 percent means a drop of eleven percentage points! 

Reinhold Lopatka (left) with Christopher Drexler.

(Bild: Juergen Fuchs)

Governor Christopher Drexler commented that "compared to the 2019 EU parliamentary elections, the environmental conditions have changed significantly" and that there have been "drastic crises, uncertainty and concern": "The election result also expresses a great deal of skepticism as to whether these concerns will be taken seriously at European level." He was convinced "that we must face up to this clearly and proactively - even if an EU parliamentary election is not a Styrian state election", as Drexler said. 

Georg Mayer (FPÖ) remains in Brussels.

(Bild: FPÖ/Silvana Gruze)

In contrast, the Freedom Party was in a jubilant mood, achieving a very good result with 28.1 percent. "This clearly underlines the positive development of the Freedom Party under Federal Party Chairman Herbert Kickl. The team around Harald Vilimsky and the Styrian top candidate Georg Mayer ran an excellent election campaign," emphasized FPÖ leader Mario Kunasek. And referred to issues such as migration, neutrality, the economy and transport, i.e. "those substantive challenges that are actually burning under the voters' nails". 

Initial forecasts discussed: SPÖ grandees around Anton Lang and top candidate Elisabeth Grossmann in Graz.

(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

The initial results for the SPÖ, which only received 20.6 percent of the vote, are not exactly exhilarating. They were discussed at 5 p.m. at the red party headquarters in Graz by party leader Anton Lang, provincial councillors Ursula Lackner and Doris Kampus, among others. Nevertheless, the party is pleased that top woman Elisabeth Grossmann has her Brussels ticket in the bag. In an interview with the "Krone" newspaper, the former state councillor said that the situation was worse than hoped for, "but better than realistically expected". After all, a clear shift to the right was to be expected. Now it was a matter of communicating the positive aspects of the EU to the people of Styria. 

Lena Schilling and Thomas Waitz.

(Bild: APA/Erwin Scheriau)

With Thomas Waitz, the Greens still have a Styrian MEP in the EU Parliament. However, the alleged affair surrounding Lena Schilling has not made the Green trees grow to the sky, they are below ten percent. Waitz emphasized on election night that he did not see any serious losses and that they would continue to have two MEPs.  

Niko Swatek from the Neos party was jubilant on election night.

(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

The Neos had already hosted a pink election party in Graz in the afternoon. Party leader Niko Swatek and top candidate Philipp Pointer were "delighted" with the predicted results of a good ten percent. In the end, however, it was only just over nine. "We ran a very intensive, pro-European election campaign!"

KPÖ city councillor Robert Krotzer was delighted.

(Bild: Jauschowetz)

 "It's a result to be proud of: According to initial projections, the Communists were able to increase their result in the EU elections from 0.8 to around 3 percent," KPÖ Graz City Councillor Robert Krotzer also gave a thumbs up. After the successes in Salzburg, Innsbruck and in the Styrian AK elections, the continuous rise continues: "People who can barely afford to live day-to-day need a reliable force," argued Krotzer.