Another European country is moving back towards its conservative roots as Austrian voters is about to hand a first ever general election victory to the far-right Freedom Party. Last 29 September, vote projections showed a rising support for hard-right party fueled by concern over immigration levels.
The Eurosceptic FPO held a decent lead in opinion polls for months over Chancellor Karl Nehammer's ruling conservative Austrian People's Party (OVP) in a campaign dominated by immigration and worries about the economy.
Led by the 55-year-old Herbert Kickl, the FPO was projected to secure 29.1 percent of the vote, ahead of the OVP on 26.2 percent, and the centre-left Social Democrats on 20.4 percent, a projection by pollster Foresight for broadcaster ORF showed after polls closed.
A separate projection by pollster Arge Wahlen also had the FPO coming first, winning by a bigger margin than final polling had indicated, though it will need to cobble together a governing coalition if the country's president asks it to.
"What's at stake is whether the FPO will appoint the chancellor or not," Kathrin Stainer-Haemmerle, a political science professor at the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences.
"Should that happen, then I have to say the role of Austria in the European Union would be significantly different. Kickl has often said that (Hungarian Prime Minister) Viktor Orban is a role model for him and he will stand by him."
Kickl, who this year forged an alliance with Orban, opposes providing aid to Ukraine and wants sanctions against Russia withdrawn, arguing they are hurting Austria more than Moscow. FPO is also very critical of Islam.
FPO staff and activists at a party event in Vienna cheered in jubilation when the election projections were announced.
In a televised discussion with the FPO leader after projections came in, Nehammer reiterated his opposition to forming a government with Kickl, although he has not ruled out working with the FPO as a party.
Stressing his party had won, Kickl said he was ready to talk with all parties over forming a coalition.