Austria’s populist Freedom Party (FPOe) is set to announce its candidate list this week. The party is dominating the European Union (EU) member’s polls, with national elections slated for September 29.
Led by populist firebrand Herbert Kickl, the Freedom Party currently stands at 27.2 percent support, with the establishment right Austrian People’s Party (OeVP) and the leftist Social Democrats (SPOe) trailing behind at 22.8 percent and 21.4 percent, respectively.
The FPOe has led the polls in Austria for months and finished first in the European Parliament elections earlier this year.
When the FPOe is strong, it pulls the OeVP to right, and FPOe leader Kickl previously served as Austria’s Interior Minister in a coalition with the OeVP from 2017 to 2019. He was and was known for being tough on illegal immigration during his tenure.
HERBERT KICK: ANTI-WAR, ANTI-MASS MIGRATION ORBAN ALLY.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kickl became a vocal critic of the Austrian government’s lockdown policies, which at one point saw the government consider fining or imprisoning adults for not taking the vaccine. Kickl addressed thousands at various anti-lockdown rallies.
Kickl is likely to reimplement his anti-mass migration policies heading into the election, exemplified by a 2023 campaign he launched called ‘Fortress Austria’, which called for border walls to be erected along immigration “pressure points.”
On the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, Kickl has defended Austria’s traditional posture as a neutral state. He walked out of a speech at the Austrian parliament by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, arguing it violated Austria’s principles of neutrality.
The FPOe under Kickl has also forged an alliance with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, helping to found the Patriots for Europe group, now the European Parliament’s third-largest force.
