Far-right wins close Austria election, a boost for Putin

A far-right party founded by former Nazis appeared to have won Austria's election Sunday, in a result that could reshape Europe's political landscape and help tilt the balance of power between Russia and the West.

Projections from ORF public television based on exit polls suggest that the pro-Russia, anti-immigration Freedom Party, or FPÖ, has finished first with 29.1% % of the vote.

They appear to have edged out the ruling conservative Österreichische Volkspartei (ÖVP) or Austrian People's Party, into second place with 26.2% of the vote. The Social Democratic Party of Austria finished third with 20.4%.

The FPÖ's victory is the latest sign that a movement characterized by anti-immigrant and anti-Islam sentiment has made a breakthrough in the continent.

It represents a stunning reversal of fortunes for the party, which crashed out of government in 2019 after a corruption scandal. But it has fallen far short of an absolute majority in the tight election and will need help to form a stable government.

Building a coalition is likely to be difficult, however, since all other major groups have ruled out working with the FPÖ.

As in other elections across Europe this summer that have seen the political extremes outperform their moderate counterparts, Austria may therefore face a period of political uncertainty as parties wrangle to take charge.

But even if the party fails to form a coalition government, the result will serve as a symbolic victory for the far-right.

The FPÖ is led by 55-year-old Herbert Kickl, who has been branded as "Volkskanzler" or "People's Chancellor," by his party, a term most associated with the Nazis who used it to describe Adolf Hitler. Indeed, the FPÖ was founded in the 1950s by former members of Hitler's paramilitary group the SS, although Kickl and his supporters reject the modern-day comparison.

Like other far-right leaders, he has capitalized on high inflation as well as Europe's migration crisis, in which hundreds of thousands of people have fled war, poverty and natural disasters in the Middle East, North Africa and beyond.

Kickl has proposed a dramatic overhaul of Austria's migration system, including the introduction of "remigration" of "unwanted strangers" — deporting migrants to their country of origin.

The party also has strong links with Russian President Vladimir Putin — the European Union's arch nemesis. The FPÖ has not just called for an end to Europe's support for Ukraine but also advocating an end to the sanctions placed on Russia over its war.

The party's ideas and policies are not unfamiliar to Austria's ten million people, and it has found itself close to the helm of Austrian politics in recent years. The FPÖ was the junior partner in a coalition government with ÖVP between 2017 and 2019, a relationship that collapsed in scandal and conflict.

But while the FPÖ has always been the subordinate in coalitions, it now holds the cards and could entice others into helping them form a government.

The OVP is the only party that has been open to allying with the far-right party in the past, and it remains to be scene whether they will accept the role of sidekick this time around. Chancellor and ÖVP leader Karl Nehammer has so far ruled out any coalition that includes Kickl.

But with Kickl now in charge of Austria's biggest party, the nation joins a long list of countries across Europe where the far-right now wields considerable power after making gains this summer in Germany, France and the Netherlands.

For centuries, Austria has enjoyed outsized influence as a crossroads at the heart of Europe. Its neutral status, neither officially allied with NATO nor Russia, means it has long served as an arena for politicians, diplomats and spies trying to tilt the geopolitical balance.

But that role is now at risk, with the birthplace of Adolf Hitler reckoning with a potential new government that is anything but neutral.

— NBC News' Alexander Smith and Carlo Angerer contributed to this report.