The FPO, led by former interior minister Herbert Kickl, was at around 27% in pre-election polls, with the governing center-right Austrian People’s Party (OVP) on 25% and the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPO) on 21%, according to European aggregator PolitPro.
In June, the FPO came top for the first time in European Parliament elections, which also saw gains by other European right-wing parties.
People attend the final electoral rally of Herbert Kickl, leader of the Freedom Party of Austria on Sept. 27, 2024, ahead of the country's national election.
© AP Photo / Andreea Alexandru
Kickl has campaigned on pledges to push back against the EU’s “forced multiculturalism, globalization and mass immigration,” and has called for “re-migration of “unwanted strangers” to their country of origin.
On the Ukraine conflict, the FPO has criticized Western military aid to Ukraine, slammed the "madness” of anti-Russia sanctions that are “destroying the well-being of Austria” and opposed Ukraine's accession to the EU. FPO MPs walked out of parliament during an address by Ukrainian lead Volodymyr Zelensky in March 2023, arguing his speech violated Austria's neutrality.
The FPO calls for a two-gender constitutional determination to promote family as “a partnership between a man and a woman with common children”.
Since it is not projected to win outright, the FPO would need to seek coalition partners to form a government. But Chancellor Karl Nehammer of the governing OVP has ruled out teaming up with Kickl.