| Popis: |
Austria is one of the first countries where the far-right and populist parties came to power by forming coalition governments. The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), led by Jörg Haider, became the country’s second largest party in the 1999 general elections. This election success of the FPÖ created a shock effect in many countries, especially in Europe. Despite this, the FPÖ managed to form a coalition government with the Austrian People’s Party (ÖPV). The FPÖ grew stronger when Heinz-Christian Strache, took the helm of the party after Jörg Haider, placed antiimmigrant policies and discourses at the center of the partys’ discours. Thus, FPÖ, which achieved a great success in the general elections held in 2017, formed a coalition government with the ÖVP led by Sebastian Kurz. Not only the FPÖ, which is classified in the extreme right and populist spectrum, but also the ÖVP, which is seen in the centre-right, put immigration and anti-immigrant rhetoric at the center of its campaign. Thus, the ÖVP and the FPÖ, which gradually shifted to a more populist line, agreed on a coalition gouvernment focused on measures to reduce immigration. |
