Vienna
The winner of Austria’s parliamentary elections said this week he wouldn’t include far-right parties in his governing coalition. Alfred Gusenbauer, whose Social Democrats took 36 percent of the vote to beat the center-right ruling People’s Party’s 34 percent, said he would consider a unity coalition with the People’s Party or a minority coalition with the Greens. Two far-right parties, the Freedom Party and its offshoot, the Alliance for the Future of Austria, captured 15 percent between them by campaigning on anti-immigrant themes. That’s a bigger share of the vote than the extreme right gets in most European countries, but still a big drop from the 27 percent it got in Austria in 1999.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Youth Demand promises a 'revolution'The Explainer New protest group picks up Just Stop Oil's mantle and vows to 'build a movement that is going to take control of the British state'
-
Video games to play this summer, from Mario Kart World to Shinobi: Art of VengeanceThe Week Recommends Nintendo launches the Switch 2 with an exclusive 'Mario Kart' entry, and Sega revisits an arcade classic
-
Sudoku medium: June 12, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
