He is so abrasive that he has one of Austria's lowest personal approval ratings, but far-right chief Herbert Kickl's strategic cunning helped his party to its first ever national election win and he now has a chance to become its first chancellor.

President Alexander van der Bellen has asked Herbert Kickl to enter into negotiations with the Austrian People’s Party to form a government.

It was less than two months that Alexander Schallenberg ruled Austria as chancellor. Now there will be a few more days, or rather a few more weeks -

The FPÖ party leader has invited the ÖVP to coalition talks, signalling his intention to bury the hatchet between the two parties. #EuropeNews

Austria, the birthplace of Adolf Hitler, is set to welcome its first far-right Chancellor since World War II, in the form of Freedom Party head Herbert Kickl.

The far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) and the conservative People's Party (ÖVP), currently negotiating a coalition government in the Alpine state, are planning massive attacks on the working class and on migrants.

Herbert Kickl on his way out of Vienna's Hofburg Palace following talks with Austria's president, Alexander Van der Bellen, earlier this month. | Credit: Joe Klamar / AFP / "Vienna could be about to get its first far-right leader since WWII,

Sutter, who took over the rotating Swiss presidency this year, has made her first official visit abroad as president to Austria. </p

It seems Europe will continue to face political turmoil in 2025, with instability fueled by the Russian-Ukrainian war and Trump’s policies

Herbert Kickl faces a rocky road to Brussels if the Freedom Party politician is indeed elected as Austria's next chancellor.

With the elections in September 2024, the populist Freedom Party (FPÖ) became the strongest party in Austria for the first time. In January 2025, hopes of averting populism quickly faded when Austria’s Federal President Alexander van der Bellen was left with no choice other than giving the FPÖ a mandate to form a government.

A government led by the far right wouldn't just herald a new era in Austrian politics. It would bolster rising far-right parties across Europe. The post Austria Represents a New Twist for the Rise of Europe's Far Right appeared first on World Politics Review.