Austria: The utmost right wins even in opposition

The current year has brought many turmoil in Austrian politics. In the landmark elections last September for the first time since planet War II The far right has prevailed, followed by the longest coalition formation process in the past of this country.

When the first negotiations between the Conservative Austrian People's organization (ÖVP), the Social Democratic organization of Austria (SPÖ) and the Liberal NEOS ended, to which Chancellor Karl Nehammer responded by resigning, the coalition of the utmost right-wing Austrian Liberal organization (FPÖ) and ÖVP seemed inevitable. It would mean breaking pre-election promises of conservatives who vowed never to negociate with extremist Herbert Kickle of FPÖ. However, these talks have besides failed, and the bone of disagreement has proved to be the filling of key ministerial posts.

Because of the deficiency of another options for conservatives, social democrats and liberals, who abruptly began to effort their best to prevent the utmost right from being allowed to power, they again sat down to negotiate. Result: the first three-party coalition in Austria since 1947. Their programme: ‘Time for appropriate action. For Austria", promises that the country will "return to the right track" and that the offensive of the far right will be halted. no of these objectives have yet been achieved.

Only a fewer weeks after the fresh government took over, it turned out that the Austrian budget deficit was larger than expected. The consequence did not take long: strict belt tightening with a view to fiscal consolidation, sharp simplification of investment plans and forced spending cuts. Worse still, consolidation solutions disproportionately charged households with lower income.

While Austria struggles with evidence inflation and rising cost of living, the utmost right continues to grow. Since the close to 29 percent FPÖ score in September 2024, the organization has managed to rise support in the polls to 35 percent. The sophisticated message of FPÖ in its own media and social channels points to any unpopular government decision, with surgical precision utilizing any slip of power.

Responsibility Trap

The Austrian ruling parties have been trapped by competing imperatives: a “responsible” action to guarantee the stableness of the State and to comply with EU fiscal rules while responding to the current concerns of voters. And it is this tension between liable action and the ad hoc reaction, which has been mentioned by the late political scientist Peter Mair, that presently defines the way in which Austria is governed.

Government solutions uncover dangerous asymmetry. In economical matters, the authority chooses a "responsible" policy of rigorous savings, motivated by the budget deficit and the EU excessive deficit procedure. On identity issues, she tries a "responsible" policy, proposing what she believes voters anticipate on migration. The consequence is simply a toxic combination that strengthens precisely the forces with which power is allegedly fighting.

Let us look at the Austrian government's fresh actions. citing an overload on the education, housing and healthcare systems, he halted the asylum household reunion programme, although the number of applicants was minimal. Even more concern is the introduced ban on wearing a scarf on your head by students in schools. The ban brings to head the law introduced in 2019 by the ÖVP-FPÖ government of Sebastian Kurz, repealed in 2020 by the Austrian Court of Justice as being unconstitutional.

This combination of “responsible” economics and “responsible” identity policy shows that the government has disastrously miscalculated. Activities in the economical field, although supposedly liable and entering neoliberal orthodoxy, consist of reducing climate protection spending and household allowances, which are based on average Austrians. This is an approach that is peculiarly detrimental to the social democrats, preventing the main objectives, specified as the ambitious plans of Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler, to eradicate kid poverty.

The government's symbolic actions on migration do not respond to the Austrians' fundamental concerns. Worse still, they take on the topics, policies and rules of action of FPÖ, legitimise the attitude of the far right, contributing to its standardisation. And this works very clearly to the detriment of social democrats. Although various experts regularly say that a restrictive immigration policy increases the popularity of social democracy, empirical studies do not confirm this, or even even On the contrary.

Research shows that it is very hard lead to stigmatisation again far right parties erstwhile they were already accepted in the mainstream of politics. That is why liberal-democratic parties must defy the temptation to incorporate these movements and the views they voice into mainstream, due to the fact that it is as irresistible as destructive.

The current approach of the Austrian government does not lead to a simplification in the popularity of FPÖ. The government is fundamentally doing the far right, making its future triumph increasingly probable. With all restrictive immigration measure, with all cut in the name of savings, affecting working families, with all mention to the utmost right-wing framework, FPÖ gains additional weapons and at the same time the credibility of democratic parties is undermined.

False choice is not the only choice

To meet the promise of "the right actions for Austria now", the coalition must go beyond this false choice between economical work and cultural response. Investing in the future of Austria requires more than just financial discipline. Democracy and liberal democratic standards request to be strengthened.

It is essential to make an opposition to the principles, composed of all democratic parties, which will argue the anti-democratic vision, embodied by the utmost right and propose a affirmative communicative about the future of Austria. A communicative that promises fair treatment and promotion opportunities for all citizens, without divisions and without scapegoats. The government needs to explain why liberal democracy is better for Austrians than authoritarian nativism, and to support this claim, it needs to present political solutions that will dramatically improve the lives of citizens.

If the coalition doesn't change course, she'll have a cold shower in the next election. The triumph of the far right will not come through the revolution, but through the mainstream party, which gradually capitulate before the ultra-right agenda. The Austrian government inactive has time to change this trajectory, but the chances of that happening are melting at an alarming rate.

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Gabriela Greilinger She is simply a PhD student at the School of Public and global Affairs at the University of Georgia, where she studies the European utmost right.

Article published in stock Social Europe. From English she translated Dorota Blabolil-Obrębska.