site.btaHistoric Victory for the Austrian Freedom Party in EU Elections Was Partly Due to Prevalence of Domestic Issue in Campaign, Neue Zürcher Zeitung Journalist Says

The victory for the Austrian Freedom Party in EU elections here was partly due to the prevalence of domestic issue in the campaign, Meret Baumann, the correspondent for Austria and the Visegrád Group countries at the Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung, said in a BTA interview after the June 9 elections. The experienced political analyst provided insights into the recent electoral outcomes in Austria and highlighted the significance of these results in a broader European context.

"The historic victory for the Austrian Freedom Party in the European elections, predicted by all opinion polls, was partly due to the fact that, given the parliamentary elections that will take place in the autumn, the most important issues of the election campaign were not European but rather national," Baumann said. The "Ibiza effect", a scandal with the Freedom Party that caused a government crisis five years ago and coincided with the European elections, has largely dissipated.

Baumann added that the parties' campaign also touched on migration, the war in Ukraine and neutrality. The Federal Chancellor, a member of the People's Party, proposed implementing the "Rwanda model". Additionally, the war in Ukraine and the issue of neutrality were also prominent subjects of discussion.

In the European post-election context today the difficulties of the ruling Austrian parties, the People's Party and the Greens, are not an exception, Baumann continued. The same is seen in Germany, where opposition parties gained significant voter support, while the Social Democrats failed to unite even under the leadership of the new party leader.

The new composition of the Austrian MEPs is also in line with European trends, the shift to the right is also observed in other European countries, Baumann concludes.