Auschwitz Committee: Austrian far-right win an 'alarming new chapter'

The first victory of a far-right party in Austria's post-war history is an "alarming" development for Europe, according to the International Auschwitz Committee.

A media projection has given the populist Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) a clear lead in Sunday's poll, with 29.2% of the vote, well ahead of the conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) of the outgoing coalition government.

"For Holocaust survivors, the first projections for the national elections in Austria and above all the strengthening of the extreme right around Herbert Kickl and the FPÖ add an alarming new chapter to their fears and concerns," said executive vice president Christoph Heubner.

The committee in charge of memorial site at the former Nazi death camp say they are now hoping for "the unity of Austrian democrats."

In the interests of the country and in the interests of Europe, Austria's supporters of democracy should come together to "oppose the oblivion of history and the ideology of old and new right-wing extremists."

Under the leadership of Kickl, the FPÖ has given up its former distance to the so-called Identitarians, a white supremacist movement categorized as right-wing extremists.

In its election manifesto, the FPÖ campaigned for an extremely restrictive migration policy under the slogan "Fortress Austria - Fortress Freedom".

The party calls for migrants to be returned to their countries of origin and wants more "homogeneity" in society - as an alternative to the diversity often sought internationally.

The FPÖ's significant gains are in line with recent right-wing election gains across Western Europe, notably in the Netherlands, Italy, France and Germany.