Norbert Hofer with FPO party leader HC Strache. PAimages/Ronald Zak. All rights reserved.A few weeks ago, Austria narrowly avoided a far-right presidency in an election that marked the end of an era. For the first time, no candidate of Austria’s Social or Christian Democratic catch-all parties - or rather, former catch-all parties - had made it to the run-off.
The parties that governed in a grand coalition for much of the country’s post-1945 history were crushed in the first round of the election, their candidates placed a distant fourth and fifth. And while half of Austria and liberals across Europe heaved a sigh of relief when former Green party chairman Alexander van der Bellen narrowly defeated the Freedom Party’s Norbert Hofer, the result was a pyrrhic victory at best.
“The effort in this election campaign is not wasted, but is an investment for the future” Hofer stated on his Facebook page after conceding his defeat. And the campaign was indeed an indication of what might come. With 34 % in the latest polls, the Freedom Party is leading by a large margin. The presidential election has shown that its potential to mobilise voters goes much further. A far-right president might have been averted. A far-right chancellor is more likely than ever.
