After clear election victory

How Carinthia voted in the European elections

The votes have been cast, the results are in!

(Bild: APA/dpa/Michael Kappeler)

The European elections are over: the results were published on Sunday evening after the last polling stations in Italy closed at 11 pm. According to the results, the FPÖ received the most votes in Carinthia.

49.20 percent of Carinthians cast their vote in the EU elections on Sunday or by absentee ballot - slightly less than in 2019 (52.06 percent). The Carinthian Freedom Party has two reasons to be happy: not only did they secure first place in Carinthia, almost five percentage points ahead of the SPÖ, but top candidate Elisabeth Dieringer-Granza is also likely to make it to Brussels - if there are no direct mandates for the Blue Party.

EU result from Carinthia

ÖVP = 18.97 percent (-9.93)

SPÖ = 27.60 percent (-2.79)

FPÖ = 33.49 percent (+11.92)

Greens = 6.40 percent (-3.48)

NEOS = 8.63 percent (+0.94)

DNA = 2.93 percent (+2.93)

KPÖ = 1.99 percent (+1.36)

In the district results, only Hermagor and Völkermarkt stand out. In Hermagor, the largest proportion voted for the ÖVP (29.61 percent), just ahead of the Freedom Party (27.55 percent) and the SPÖ (26.60 percent). Municipalities with a strong People's Party base, such as Lesachtal and Kirchbach, remained particularly loyal to the ÖVP. In Völkermarkt, first place went narrowly to the Social Democrats. With 31.12 percent, they are not even one percentage point ahead of the Freedom Party (30.69 percent).

Political reactions from Carinthia
Carinthia's governor has clear words on the poor performance of his SPÖ: "The EU election campaign was a more difficult challenge for progressive, liberal parties such as the SPÖ", says Peter Kaiser. The omens with the war in Ukraine and its consequences, the trend towards noticeably more egoism and nationalism as well as envy and discord stirred up by right-wing populists combined with a dangerously irresponsible brutalization of language had blown more wind into the sails of right-wing and right-wing extremist forces. "This obviously requires better answers and recipes, and we as the SPÖ will also develop them," said Kaiser.

Carinthia's Governor Peter Kaiser has clear words on Carinthia's result in the European elections.

(Bild: APA/GERT EGGENBERGER)

In an initial reaction, the Carinthian ÖVP thanked the voters: "Thank you to every single one of you who worked from Heiligenblut to Lavamünd, from Metnitz to Zell," he said, adding that every vote had been fought for right to the end.

"First of all, I would like to say a big thank you to all voters who cast their vote for the climate, for a Europe that sticks together and against right-wing agitation," emphasizes Olga Voglauer, member of the Green National Council and regional spokesperson, in an initial reaction to the results of the European Parliament elections. Voglauer speaks of "headwinds" in a "turbulent election campaign". With regard to the National Council elections, she states: "It is clear that we will use the coming months to focus on the need for climate protection." 

Carinthia's top NEOS EU candidate Iris Glanzer is delighted with the result: "This result naturally makes us very happy; for us, doubling the number of mandates means above all that our work begins today and that we will continue our work in the same way: People want MORE Europe, not less!" Neos state spokesperson Janos Juvan tells the "Krone" newspaper that there is a strong tailwind for the National Council elections - after all, this is the best result in the history of Neos.

Erwin Angerer and Elisabeth Dieringer-Granza want to wait for the final election results.

(Bild: Uta Rojsek-Wiedergut)

FPÖ leader Erwin Angerer wrote on social media: "Let's continue to stand together and fight for our values. Every vote brings us one step closer to less EU madness and more Austria in Brussels." There was to be a detailed reaction on Monday morning, when a joint press conference with Elisabeth Dieringer-Granza was due to take place. 

Press conference suddenly postponed
At 10 a.m. on Monday, the FPÖ press conference at which top candidate Elisabeth Dieringer-Granza was to announce her move to Brussels was suddenly canceled. According to information from "Krone", the Freedom Party wants to wait for the final result - the sixth mandate of the Freedom Party could still be lost due to minimal fluctuations in the counting of the ballot cards. However, the chances of this happening are very slim, according to party headquarters.