Extreme-right is ever more mainstream

"ÖVP keeps absolute majority despite huge gains for the FPÖ" — the front-page headline in Der Standard is not an overstatement. In the 20-September elections in the state of Vorarlberg — which were won by the Conservative party with 50.8% — the FPÖ [Freedom Party of Austria] inflicted a humiliating defeat on the social-democrats of the SPÖ (10.1%) and doubled its previous election score to become the second most powerful political force in the province. The daily concedes that "this does not necessarily mean that "a quarter of the population are anti-Semites or Nazis," but it does show that "an increasing number of voters are not put off" by the xenophobic and occasionally anti-Semitic speeches of FPÖ candidate Dieter Egger. These people "do not want to be told what to say or think," remarks the report, which further notes that the rebellion was not foreseen by the polls. The Freedom Party knows how to channel "discontent with mainstream society and political authority" – and the trend is especially worrying in the run-up to elections in Upper Austria, slated for 27 September, concludes Der Standard.