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In Search of the Least Evil

by Sebastian Enskat, M.A., Johannes Spreitz

The ÖVP between the European and National Council Elections

Around 6.4 million Austrians are among the 3.6 billion people worldwide who will be able to vote in the super election year of 2024, most of whom will be going to the ballot box several times – or have already done so. The focus of attention will be on the National Council election on September 29, which follows the recent European elections by a considerable margin. There are also state elections in Vorarlberg and Styria. Since June 9, the motto "after the election is before the election" has applied to federal politics, as for most of the Austrian parties, the European elections were merely a "preliminary skirmish", conducted with little enthusiasm, for the much more decisive election in the fall from an Austrian perspective. Nevertheless, the results of the European elections, which were surprising in many respects, could well have set the course for the National Council elections in the fall.
June 25, 2024 Ordering Information

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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%). 

The full-length publication is only available in german.

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Sebastian Enskat, M.A.

Sebastian Enskat

Head of the Multilateral Dialogue Vienna

sebastian.enskat@kas.de +43 1 890 1465 11

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