Austria set to elect EU’s youngest leader

VIENNA: Austrians were voting yesterday in a snap election tipped to see conservative Sebastian Kurz ( pix), 31, become EU’s youngest leader and form an alliance with the far-right, in the bloc’s latest populist test.

A rightward shift in the wealthy European Union member of 8.75 million people would be a fresh headache for Brussels, as it already struggles with Britain’s decision to leave and the rise of nationalists in Germany, Hungary, Poland and elsewhere.

But all signs indicate that Austrians, fed up with a record influx of asylum-seekers, want to swap the gridlocked centrist rule for a more hardline government for the first time in a decade.

The People’s Party (OeVP) – rebranded by Kurz as his personal “movement” – is projected to reap more than 30% of the vote with pledges to go tough on migrants and easy on taxes.

The fresh-faced “whizz-kid” is likely to form a coalition with the eurosceptic Freedom Party (FPOe), forecast to place second or third with at least 25%.

Founded by ex-Nazis, the FPOe almost won the presidency last year and topped opinion polls before Kurz stole votes with his radical OeVP makeover in spring.

FPOe chief Heinz-Christian Strache, 48, railed against asylumseekers and vowed to stop Austrians from “becoming a minority in our own homeland”, at a Friday rally.

Meanwhile embattled Chancellor Christian Kern, 51, and his oncemighty Social Democrats could be flushed into opposition after their campaign suffered blunders and scandals.

Open hostility between the ex-railway chief and Kurz also makes any new attempt at ruling together seem unlikely. – AFP