Youthful leader plays cards close to chest
31.5%
People’s Party
26.9%
Social Democrats
recent study, since 1980 both Europe’s mainstream right and left have drifted to the right — and largely in response to the rise of the populist right.
For this reason, though Austria will dominate this week’s headlines, it is distinctly unlikely to be the last case of a European state moving further to the right.
Matthew J Goodwin is Professor of Politics at the University of Kent and Senior Visiting Fellow at Chatham House. He tweets @GoodwinMJ
SEBASTIAN KURZ, 31, the man set to become Austria’s next chancellor, is on the verge of starting coalition talks with a party founded by a former Nazi.
He campaigned in Austria’s election for tougher immigration controls and many observers believe an anti-establishment coalition with the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) is his strongest option.
A deal between Mr Kurz’s People’s Party and the FPÖ would not be the first time the two have shared power but the tone of the election campaign suggests the resulting government would take a much harder line on immigration and minorities.
“I promise I will fight for great change in this country,” Mr Kurz told supporters in his victory speech on Sunday.
“It’s time to establish a new political style and a new culture in this country.” The FPÖ was founded in 1956 by Anton Reinthaller, a former Nazi who was part of the Austrian SS during the Second World War. Some, including the European Jewish Congress, have urged Mr Kurz to strike a deal with the Social Democrats instead, because the FPÖ ran “on a platform of xenophobic intolerance and the targeting of immigrants.”
So far he has not named a preferred partner. Mr Kurz accepted an invitation to visit Israel when Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned to congratulate him on Monday.