Austria's far-right Freedom Party wins big in legislative election

Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Austria's pro-Russia Freedom Party was celebrating Sunday night after it became the first far-right political party to win an election in the country since the Nazi era.

"We made history today!" the FPÖ said in celebration on X late Sunday.

According to official preliminary results published early Monday, FPÖ won 29.2% of the vote, surpassing the ruling center-right People's Party, which finished with 26.5%.

The Social Democratic party finished with 21% of the vote, followed by the liberal NEOS with 9%.

About 75% of the voting public cast ballots, the results showed.

If every stays as is, the FPÖ will pick up 58 seats in the 183-seat National Council, meaning it will need to form a coalition government, as it did not win a majority. However, that could prove difficult as the ÖVP, led by Chancellor Karl Nehammer, has said it will not join the FPÖ under its controversial leader, Herbert Kickl.

Wir haben heute Geschichte geschrieben! Danke an euch ALLE! pic.twitter.com/XFHo2FCEJ0 — FPÖ (@FPOE_TV) September 29, 2024

Founded in the 1950s by Nazi veterans, the FPÖ was swept to victory this election cycle on a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment, vowing to establish a "Fortress Austria" to keep migrants out.

Though the party has attempted to publicly distance itself from its Nazi past, Kickl hasn't shied away from alluding to it, campaigning to be "the people's chancellor," a term once used by another Austria-born politician, Adolf Hitler .

"We don't need to change our position, because we have always said that we're ready to lead a government, we're ready to push forward this change in Austria, side by side with the people," Kickl said in a address televised by the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation.

"The other parties should ask themselves where they stand on democracy."

Regarding the ÖVP's rejection of forming a coalition government, Kickl said they should sleep on it.

Nehammer said in a statement on Facebook that "We stand by what we promised our voters."