Pro-Russian FPÖ Gains in Austrian Election Could Be Bad for Ukraine

With 29% of the votes on Sunday, Sept. 29, the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), for the first time, came out as the largest party in the lower house, the “Nationalrat.” 

The rise of FPÖ, who are perceived to have risen to power due to their anti-immigration stance, could be bad for Ukraine.

Austria has taken in approximately 78,000 Ukrainian refugees. FPÖ’s rise may make things harder for Ukrainians living in Austria. 

The FPÖ states in their party platform that they only want to provide social benefits to Austrian citizens. They also aim to deny refugees entry into Austria.

Impact on support for Ukraine

The current Austrian government supports Ukraine and has, since August, provided approximately €250 million in humanitarian aid, although it does not provide military aid.

The FPÖ, is not part of the current governing coalition, however, as winner of the lower house, the FPOe will have the initiative to form a new governing coalition. 

Unlike Germany, where the radical right and pro-Russian AFD is excluded from ruling due to a cordon sanitaire, other Austrian political parties have cooperated with FPÖ in the past. 

A potential coalition could be formed between FPÖ and the Christian Democratic party – ÖVP, although the ÖVP is, so far, unwilling to cooperate with FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl. 

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If the FPÖ is successful in forming this coalition, Austria’s support for Ukraine could decline. 

If the FPÖ fails to form a coalition with ÖVP, as an alternative, ÖVP could cooperate with one or two other parties. This would likely less negatively impact Ukraine support. 

Pro-Russian FPÖ and its stance on Ukraine

In the last decade FPÖ have frequently held pro-Kremlin positions. 

They defended Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 and some influential party members even acted as “election observers” who would claim that the Russian-held referendum was legitimate. 

In 2016, the FPÖ signed a cooperation pact with Putin’s United Russia party. 

Last year, FPÖ members also walked out when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Austrian parliament via a video connection. 

The unwillingness of the FPÖ to support Ukraine was also reflected in some of their campaigning in the just-held election.

The FPÖ seeks to stop EU sanctions against Russia and holds that Austria should stop contributing to the European Peace Facility – whose funds are used to support Ukraine.

 Austrian-Russian relations

Some analysts say that relations between Austria and Russia are warmer than relations between Russia and most other European countries.

In 2018, Russian leader Vladimir Putin attended the wedding of the (at that time) Foreign Minister Karin Kneiss and danced a Waltz with her. 

In April 2022, six weeks after the invasion of Ukraine, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer visited Putin to have an open dialogue. 

However, Nehammer said it was “not a friendly visit.”

“I made the decision to go to Moscow, to look in President Putin’s eyes and confront him with what I saw,” Nehammer told CNN.

Last year, former Austrian foreign minister Karin Kneissl moved to Russia to start a think tank. 

Austria and Russia maintain relatively warm economic ties according to a report by The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies. 

The country is still heavily dependent on Russian gas. In January, 98% of Austria’s natural gas came from Russian energy giant Gazprom. This is in sharp contrast with most of Europe – which largely reduced Russian gas consumption since the February 2024 full-scale Ukraine invasion.