Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPO) achieved a historic victory on Sunday, winning the state election in Styria for the first time, Reuters reported.
This marks a significant development following the party’s strong performance in September’s general election and highlights its growing influence as national coalition talks continue without its involvement.
Styria, which includes Austria’s second-largest city, Graz, saw the FPO secure its place as the leading party in the region. This outcome adds pressure on party leaders currently negotiating Austria's first three-way national government since 1949.
The FPO’s win in Styria is only its second-ever state election victory, following its dominance in Carinthia under former leader Joerg Haider during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
"There's been a landslide in Styria. I didn't expect such a resounding result," said Stefan Hermann, the FPO's deputy leader in Styria, in an interview with national broadcaster ORF.
A projection by pollster Foresight for ORF and news agency APA estimated the FPO at 35.0%, with the ruling conservative People's Party (OVP) trailing at 26.7%.
For the first time since World War Two, neither the OVP nor the Social Democrats (SPO) managed to win in Styria, a state that borders Slovenia and is famously the birthplace of actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Despite its victory, the FPO will need to secure a coalition partner to achieve a majority in the state assembly and form a government.
At the national level, FPO leader Herbert Kickl continues to criticize attempts to form what he describes as a "coalition of losers" among the parties that placed second, third, and fourth in September's general election. Kickl argues that, as the first-place party, the FPO should have been tasked with forming a government.
The FPO garnered 29% of the vote in September but would require a coalition partner to govern. However, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, a former leader of the left-wing Greens, noted that no other party was willing to collaborate with the FPO under Kickl’s leadership.
As a result, he tasked Chancellor Karl Nehammer, leader of the second-placed OVP, with forming a government. Nehammer is currently in coalition discussions with the SPO and the liberal Neos.