Austrian Freedom Party’s victory highlights growing far-right radicalism across Europe

In her op-ed for The Guardian, ISD Senior Resident Research Fellow Julia Ebner discusses Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) electoral victory, noting its peak radicalism and how it has emboldened far-right movements across Europe. She highlights the normalisation of extreme ideologies like “remigration,” used in campaigns in Germany and by Donald Trump.

Julia further critiqued the FPÖ’s use of controversial topics like COVID conspiracies and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, emphasising the role of alternative media in spreading misinformation. She warns the FPÖ’s success risks Austria’s minorities and democracy while strengthening global far-right politics.

“With the global rise of an increasingly emboldened far right, it is more important than ever that other parties show that they are honest with their voters and can reliably translate words into action,” she wrote. “We need a new generation of boundary-crossing leaders who can offer effective, but non-hateful solutions to the various sources of anger in previously underrepresented population groups. They must be capable of reversing the cumulative radicalisation that is threatening to break our democracies.”