Austrian FPÖ poised for victory in European election
At 5 PM, voting stations in Austria have been shuttered. Predictions suggest a win for the FPO, a group promoting EU skepticism. On the opposite end, the OVP has seen a substantial decrease in backing. The Greens, initial suspects of controversy in their category, have also suffered losses.
In Austrian news, the right-leaning FPO appears to be reigning champion in the European election. Per a trend report, released post-polls, the right-wing populist party leads with approximately 27% of the votes, besting both the socially democratic SPO and the conservative OVP. In comparison to the past EU election in 2019, the FPO enjoys a gain of about ten percentage points. Throughout this year's campaign, the FPO emphasized the moniker "Stop EU Madness," portraying the European Union as a war-instigating entity amid the Ukraine crisis.
Estimations predict that the SPO and the OVP will amass around 23% each of the votes. For the incumbent OVP, this equates to a drop of over ten percentage points. The SPO sits fairly constant with its performance from 2014.
The Greens' results were also highly anticipated. Their lead candidate, the young climate activist Lena Schilling, contended with a reputation tarnish through media accusations. Trend analysis depicts the Greens losing about four percentage points. It's anticipated that they'll garner a proportion of roughly 10%. The NEOS liberals are predicted to garner slightly more votes, estimated around 10% as well.
Austria is scheduled to have 20 positions among the future 720 members of the European Parliament. Onlookers and analysts viewed this election as a testing ground for the upcoming National Council polls in autumn. The currently available surveys show the FPO as front-runners. The trend forecast was revealed by the APA news agency, the state-run ORF, and the commercial Puls24. It's constructed from pre-voting-day surveys conducted by the Foresight, Arge Wahlen, and Peter Hajek institutes.
