Austria's Far Right: A Kickl In The Teeth For The Left? - How We Got Here - TVP WORLD

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To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Newton’s third law applies equally to politics as well as to physics. Europe and one of its most historic members Austria are experiencing this effect. History and physics, two laws that govern the world.

Herbert Kickl has led Austria’s far right to an unprecedented victory. As the leader of the country’s Freedom Party, he garnered almost 29% of the vote back in late 2024 and utterly shook Austria’s political landscape. This result by the FPO is the best the far right has had in Austria since 1945.

Kickl’s victory is seen as yet another link in a rapidly growing, and in some’s view concerning, chain of right-wing victories across Europe and beyond.

The weight of this has not been lost on the man himself.

But as in most parliamentary democracies, being the party with the most votes is not nearly enough to take power. You need coalition partners. Parties whose views or at least interests align.

Right after the FPO’s victory, Kickl was shunned. No one wanted to be a junior partner to what is widely seen as a pro-Russian and anti-EU party.

The conservative Austrian People’s Party, the OVP, might bite the offer. The FPO has already been a junior partner to the OVP in past governments. The two groups are now negotiating a possible coalition. The OVP has even been adopting some of the FPO’s ideas – like those on tougher migration.

Observers have warned the EU to prepare for Chancellor Kickl and all that may entail.

Join Jan Darasz and his guest Łukasz Ogrodnik, an analyst at the Polish Institute of International Affairs for How We Got Here.