Another week, another election, more significant gains for the far right. In Austria, the FPÖ beat the traditional conservatives from the ÖVP and achieved a historic high result on issues such as immigration and inflation. FPÖ top candidate Herbert Kickl dreams of a “Fortress Austria”. Why are right-wing populists so popular right now?
Stefan Grobe discussed this with Knut Dethlefsen, director of the Future of Work program at the Freidrich Ebert Foundation, Katrin Pribyl, EU correspondent for a pool of German newspapers, and Richard Schenk, speaker at the think tank MCC Brussels.
Herbert Kickl, top candidate of the Freedom Party of Austria and winner of the National Council elections, was the man of the hour in Vienna. His anti-European and pro-Kremlin tendencies gave his party just under 30 percent of the vote. The ruling conservative ÖVP received around 26 percent. Voter turnout was solid: eight out of ten Austrians went to the polls.
It is unclear whether Kickl can form a government. Nevertheless, the result is part of a trend in the EU. The so-called “cordon sanitaire”, the isolation of right-wing populists in parliaments, is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.
The gains of the right-wing populists corresponded to a trend in Europe. Seven EU states now have governments with right-wing populist or right-wing extremist participation. How will the election results in Austria shift the political coordinates in Europe?
Second topic: European-British relations. In 2016, the British voted in a referendum to leave their country from the EU. Years of heated and tense negotiations over Brexit followed.
Keir Starmer began an EU charm offensive this week, becoming the first London leader to visit Brussels in person since 2019 – and there have been five in that time!
Many saw this as the beginning of a new era for relations between London and Brussels. The atmosphere was great.
The Prime Minister wanted to forget the spiteful Brexit years and make a fresh start. Brussels is happy about this, but there is zero appetite to even touch on any Brexit regulations.
Also: London calling – but who cares?
Finally, the group addressed a burning social issue. Cleaning, security and catering workers – so-called “essential workers” – protested in Brussels this week.
They complain about low wages and excessive workloads. But that’s not all. They also miss a lack of professional recognition, which should be reflected in collective agreements.
Are these demands justified? What is the dispute really about?
