Austria turns sharply to the right in an election shaped by immigration
Sebastian Kurz
Early exit polls of Austria's Oct. 15 election  suggest  Sebastian Kurz   will take  his  party into a very narrow majority — positioning  himself  as the next chancellor. The 31-year old conservative is known for  his  pledge to take the country into a more hard line stance against the influx of refugees and migrants. (Reuters)
Early exit polls of Austria's Oct. 15 election  suggest  Sebastian Kurz   will take  his  party into a very narrow majority — positioning  himself  as the next chancellor. The 31-year old conservative is known for  his  pledge to take the country into a more hard line stance against the influx of refugees and migrants. (Reuters)
The result puts the 31-year-old foreign minister and People’s Party leader  Sebastian Kurz  in line to become Austria’s next chancellor after a campaign in which he emphasized the need to strengthen border controls  reduce caps on refugees and slash benefits for newcomers.
“I’ll fight with all my strength for change in this country ”  Kurz  told cheering supporters — many clad in turquoise  the color  he  adopted to signal a new era for the People’s Party after decades of identification with black. “There’s a lot to do.”
 Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz  the leader of the People’s Party  talks to reporters after casting his vote in the election in Vienna . (Christian Bruna/European Pressphoto Agency-EFE/Rex/Shutterstock)
But unlike in those nations  in Austria the far right is expected to become part of the government.  Kurz  will need a coalition partner to form a majority in the parliament  and the Freedom Party is considered the most likely option.
If  he  goes that route  it would end a “grand coalition” between Austria’s center left and center right that has led the country for the past decade  and for much of its modern history.
Some on Sunday called on  Kurz  to avoid teaming up with the Freedom Party.
“We strongly urge  Mr. Kurz  to form a coalition of centrist parties and not be beholden to a party of the far-right in  his  new coalition government ” European Jewish Congress President Moshe Kantor said in a statement. “A party which has run on a platform of xenophobic intolerance and the targeting of immigrants must not be granted a seat at the governing table.”
Kern hinted that the party would be willing to serve in a coalition government. But analysts consider such a possibility unlikely given the rightward tilt of the electorate — as well as the bad blood that developed between the two establishment parties after a scandal involving fake Facebook pages that smeared  Kurz  and were attributed to a Social Democratic operative.
The elevation of  Kurz  to chancellor would put another young and charismatic leader at the helm of a European government  after the election of 39-year-old Emmanuel Macron in France.
Kurz  though ideologically to the right of Macron  modeled much of his campaign after the Frenchman’s. The Austrian politician styled his run for the nation’s highest office as a movement  not a conventional election  and personalized his party  informally renaming it “the Sebastian Kurz List.”
Kritzinger said  Kurz ’s opponents were flummoxed by how to counteract the charismatic People’s Party leader  who took the reins in the party this year and promptly remade it as  his  own.
“From a rhetoric perspective   he ’s an absolute talent ” Kritzinger said. “The other parties didn’t know how to deal with  him .”
Early exit polls of Austria's Oct. 15 election  suggest  [TGT]will take  [TGT]  party into a very narrow majority — positioning  [TGT]  as the next chancellor. The 31-year old conservative is known for  [TGT]  pledge to take the country into a more hard line stance against the influx of refugees and migrants. (Reuters)
Early exit polls of Austria's Oct. 15 election  suggest  [TGT]will take  [TGT]  party into a very narrow majority — positioning  [TGT]  as the next chancellor. The 31-year old conservative is known for  [TGT]  pledge to take the country into a more hard line stance against the influx of refugees and migrants. (Reuters)
The result puts the 31-year-old foreign minister and People’s Party leader  Sebastian Kurz  in line to become Austria’s next chancellor after a campaign in which he emphasized the need to strengthen border controls  reduce caps on refugees and slash benefits for newcomers.
“I’ll fight with all my strength for change in this country ”  [TGT]told cheering supporters — many clad in turquoise  the color  [TGT]  adopted to signal a new era for the People’s Party after decades of identification with black. “There’s a lot to do.”
 [TGT]talks to reporters after casting [TGT] vote in the election in Vienna . (Christian Bruna/European Pressphoto Agency-EFE/Rex/Shutterstock)
But unlike in those nations  in Austria the far right is expected to become part of the government.  [TGT]will need a coalition partner to form a majority in the parliament  and the Freedom Party is considered the most likely option.
If [TGT][TGT]  goes that route  it would end a “grand coalition” between Austria’s center left and center right that has led the country for the past decade  and for much of its modern history.
Some on Sunday called on  [TGT]to avoid teaming up with the Freedom Party.
“We strongly urge  [TGT]to form a coalition of centrist parties and not be beholden to a party of the far-right in  [TGT]  new coalition government ” European Jewish Congress President Moshe Kantor said in a statement. “A party which has run on a platform of xenophobic intolerance and the targeting of immigrants must not be granted a seat at the governing table.”
Kern hinted that the party would be willing to serve in a coalition government. But analysts consider such a possibility unlikely given the rightward tilt of the electorate — as well as the bad blood that developed between the two establishment parties after a scandal involving fake Facebook pages that smeared  [TGT]and were attributed to a Social Democratic operative.
The elevation of  Kurz  to chancellor would put another young and charismatic leader at the helm of a European government  after the election of 39-year-old Emmanuel Macron in France.
[TGT]though ideologically to the right of Macron  modeled much of his campaign after the Frenchman’s. The Austrian politician styled his run for the nation’s highest office as a movement  not a conventional election  and personalized his party  informally renaming it “the [TGT] said  [TGT] ’s opponents were flummoxed by how to counteract the charismatic People’s Party leader  who took the reins in the party this year and promptly remade it as  [TGT]  own.
“From a rhetoric perspective   [TGT] ’s an absolute talent ” [TGT] said. “The other parties didn’t know how to deal with  [TGT] .”