Election posters of Norbert Hofer, candidate for presidential elections of Austria's right-wing Freedom Party. Ronald Zak/PAimages. All rights reserved.When Austrian elections make the international headlines, it is often in connection with the rightwing populist Freedom Party (FPÖ).
In 2000 when it entered a coalition government as the junior partner after a smashing victory in national elections, there was international outrage. Austria’s EU partners even imposed bilateral sanctions against the government of conservatives and rightwing populists.
The hastily conceived measures largely backfired, making EU governments reticent to meddle in national politics ever since. Thus, far more serious assaults on democracy by rightwing governments in Hungary, Poland, and Turkey have gone on largely unchallenged. However, owing to incompetence at governing and internal squabbling over their political direction, the FPÖ quickly collapsed in public office.
