For the First Time Since World War II, Nearly 30% of Austrian Voters Backed a Far-Right Party Founded by Nazis

For the first time since the Nazi era, the far right won the most votes in Austria's election on Sunday as the Freedom Party (FPÖ) rode a wave of public anger over migration and the cost of living. According to the almost complete results, the pro-Kremlin, anti-Islam FPÖ won 29.2% of the vote.  

The Austrian Chancellor called the result, which will shake Europe, ‘bitter’, while Defence Minister Claudia Tanner admitted that the defeat was a ‘wake-up call’ for the ruling parties, The Guardian reports.

German Green MEP Daniel Freund reacted to the Austrian election results with a sad emoji.

Hungarian President Viktor Orban congratulated Herbert Kiehl, calling the election results a ‘historic victory’. Orbán's Fidesz party and Kikl's far-right Svoboda party are members of the Patriots for Europe group.

Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders also noted the election results in Austria.

‘The Netherlands, Hungary, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, France, Spain, the Czech Republic and today Austria! We are winning! Times are changing!’ he wrote.

ORF has created a map showing which parties came first in each Austrian municipality.

Austrian media are noting this morning the geographical differences in yesterday's results of the far-right, which did particularly well in rural areas and small towns, while the Social Democrats did well in most of the larger cities.

Now that the party failed to win an absolute majority, the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) will need a governing partner.

Unlike the other centrist parties, the People's Party (ÖVP) has not ruled out working with the far right in the next government, as it has done twice in the past in taboo-breaking alliances at the national level.