A new dawn of anti-immigrant policy hegemony? The Austrian election and its (potential) consequences

Policy Brief

The recent national elections in Austria have been of the more contentious kind and have led to a shift in Austrian power constellations. For only the second time in more than 50 years, the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and its neo-leader Sebastian Kurz have surpassed the Social Democrats (SPÖ) to earn the privilege to form a new government coalition (which most likely will be formed with the radical right FPÖ). During the hot election campaign period, two topics have outranked other issues by far and had big impact on the election outcome, i.e. campaign tactics and immigration.