The black wave also overwhelms Austria and corners the People's Chancellor Karl Nehammer, the big loser of this electoral round, defined by the Austrian press as a "political earthquake".
In the wake of the great advance of the AfD in Germany, the far right of the FPO not only becomes the first party of the Alpine country but scores an unprecedented result, almost reaching 30% of the consensus , well beyond the expectations of the eve. And gaining as much as 13% compared to the last elections.
With over 29% - according to the first data from the polls - the Freedom Party of Austria has largely surpassed the 26.9 obtained in 1999 under Jörg Haider.
"Today the Austrians have made history: they have clearly expressed themselves in favor of change", commented the leaders of the party led by Herbert Kickl. A great result also welcomed by the League: "We are extremely happy for the extraordinary success of our friends of Fpö, our historic allies. Congratulations - comments Paolo Borchia, head of delegation to the European Parliament - for this unprecedented result, which confirms the great desire for change of the citizens with respect to the establishment forces that misgovern also in Brussels: the Patriots family continues to grow more and more, throughout Europe. Full speed ahead".
The popular party of the Opv, on the other hand, is collapsing: the party of Chancellor Karl Nehammer stops at 26.2% , suffering, according to the first projections released when the polls closed, a debacle of over 11 points compared to the vote of 5 years ago. Christian Stocker, the general secretary, does not hide his disappointment for an operation to recover votes on the right that ultimately failed. And, at least for now, he closes the door to an alliance with right-wing extremists. But negotiations for the new government have not yet started: "It is obvious that we are disappointed by these results. We expected more and now we will have to think about how to regain the trust of the voters. However - he points out - we are against forming a coalition with Herbert Kickl".
The left holds but does not take advantage of the climate of great electoral polarization: Spo (Austrian Socialist Party) stands at 20.4%, slightly down on the previous elections. The Greens, so far in government with the Opv, also did badly, not going beyond 8.6% and the liberals of Neos, also at 9.1%. With these numbers, excluding on paper the alliance between Fpo and populars, the formation of a coalition becomes a very complicated undertaking.
The Parliament that emerges from the polls today, if the data are confirmed, is highly fragmented, no political force has an absolute majority: the far right is the first political force, with 57 seats, second are the populars with 51, third are the socialists with 41, tied are the Greens and the liberals of Neos with 17 seats each.
Talks for the formation of a possible government will begin tomorrow, a difficult task for President Alexander Van der Bellen, who is against entrusting the leadership of the executive to Kickl.
(Online Union)
