The European elections: a historic loss as a success for the ÖVP
If you take the reporting in the relevant Austrian media immediately after the European elections as a yardstick, you could get the impression that the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) was the big loser in the European Parliament elections. The impression that the ÖVP lost the election also corresponds to the facts in that the ÖVP suffered by far the biggest loss of all parties compared to the 2019 European elections. It now only has 24.5% of the vote. That corresponds to five seats in the European Parliament. This compares to 34.6% and seven seats in 2019. For the first time ever in a nationwide election, the right-wing populist Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) became the strongest force with 25.4% (six seats). They can claim an increase of 8.2% and, in this respect at least, feel like the clear winner of the election. The Austrian Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) came third with 23.2% and also five seats (0.7% fewer than in 2019), followed by the Greens with 11.1% and two seats (-3.0%) and the liberal party Das Neue Österreich und Liberales Forum (NEOS) with 10.1% and also two seats (+1.7%).
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