Media coverage of the election

International press already writing about monarchy

FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl

(Bild: APA/Roland Schlager)

The result of the National Council election is not only making headlines in Austria, but also internationally. The main focus is on the victory of the Freedom Party. Spain's largest daily newspaper even writes of an "illiberal Austro-Hungarian monarchy".

By this it means that FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl wants to reshape Austria along Hungarian lines. He is an "unavoidable politician, even in opposition", according to the Spanish daily "El Pais" on Monday. "With 29% of the vote, he will have to find other partners to govern, and there are very few potential candidates," the liberal French daily "Le Figaro" points out.

Other international media outlets have reported similar reports. "Extreme Austria: It is by no means guaranteed that Mr. Kickl will be able to become Prime Minister and lead government negotiations," wrote the Italian daily "La Stampa", for example. The conservative Spanish daily "ABC" spoke of "bad news for the European project". The election in Austria confirms the "advance of the extreme right in Europe" and the liberals and Greens will experience a collapse.

It is by no means guaranteed that Mr. Kickl will be able to become prime minister and lead government negotiations.

Italiens Tageszeitung „La Stampa“

"Expression of social dissatisfaction"
The FPÖ's election victory is an "expression of social dissatisfaction", analyzed "El Diario" from Madrid. The economic prospects in Austria are currently "not exactly promising" and the FPÖ's election campaign was radical. The party advocates "ethnically and culturally homogeneous societies". In line with this, the German newspaper "Welt" tweeted that other parties are "not so opposed to liberal migration policies".

Here you can see the post from the German daily newspaper "Die Welt".

"A kind of Alpine hack"
The French daily "L'Humanité" talks about "migrants as scapegoats". Kickl is "a master at instrumentalizing the bad life" and has been able to "rely on the economic crisis (...)". "Kickl has turned provocations, even those that exude the worst brown stench, into a method of gaining the public's attention." The newspaper recalled that Adolf Hitler liked to use the term "People's Chancellor" in the 1930s.

"Kickl, a kind of Alpen-Höcke, argues in a similarly radical way to the Thuringian AfD leader. He adopted his battle cry of 'remigration' and called for the mass deportation of foreigners," analyzed the "Berliner Morgenpost".

Swiss regional newspapers also wrote of a "protest vote with consequences". Austria is a "country that always does a good job of dealing with its many scandals - and then nothing happens", they wrote. "There is nothing brilliant about it", commented the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" on the result of the National Council election.

As reported, some foreign media warned of a threatening trend and called for vigilance against nationalist politics. Many politicians, on the other hand, congratulated the FPÖ, for example Marine Le Pen from France, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Geert Wilders from the Netherlands and other representatives of right-wing parties.

According to the provisional election results (not yet including all absentee ballots), the FPÖ achieved 28.8 percent, followed by the ÖVP with 26.3 percent. The SPÖ is in third place with 21.1 percent, followed by the NEOS (9.2 percent) and the Greens (8.3 percent). The remaining percentages were distributed among minor parties, with voter turnout at 78 percent.