Austria Sets Election Date Amid Far-Right Surge

Austria's government has announced that the next parliamentary election will take place on September 29. The announcement follows the Freedom Party's narrow victory over Chancellor Karl Nehammer's Austrian People's Party in the European Parliament elections. Polls predict the Freedom Party to lead in the forthcoming general elections.

Austria's government, nearing the end of its five-year term, announced Wednesday that the Alpine country's next parliamentary election will take place on September 29.

This decision follows a narrow victory by the far-right Freedom Party over Chancellor Karl Nehammer's conservative Austrian People's Party in the recent European Parliament elections, highlighting significant gains for hard-right parties across the 27-nation bloc.

The Freedom Party secured 25.4 percent of the vote on Sunday, marking its first-ever nationwide election win, followed closely by the People's Party with 24.5 percent.

Recent polls suggest a broader gap between the two parties in the upcoming general election, with the Freedom Party expected to take the lead.

After his party's defeat in the European election, Nehammer acknowledged widespread dissatisfaction among the electorate, according to the Austria Press Agency. He pledged that the People's Party would earn back voter trust by seriously addressing issues such as migration and overregulation.

The last national election in the country took place in September 2019, following former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's decision to end the coalition between his right-wing People's Party and the far-right Freedom Party. The coalition collapse came after a video surfaced showing Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache apparently offering lucrative government contracts to a purported Russian investor.