Far Right Wins High Marks in Austria Vote

Austria’s far right triumphed in European Parliament elections Sunday, bolstering its position as Europe’s most popular nationalist party at the expense of Chancellor Franz Vranitzky’s Social Democrats.

The conservative People’s Party led by Foreign Minister Wolfgang Schuessel notched up the top score in Austria’s first European election Sunday. But the rise in far-right support saw one of the most dramatic shifts in voter allegiance in Austria’s democratic history.

“This great result is a historic step for us,” far-right leader Joerg Haider said, warning Vranitzky’s government to change its policies or face its Waterloo at the next general election due in 1999.

“The domestic political landscape has been turned upside down. Our chances of winning power are better now as all three main parties are neck and neck,” Haider said.

The Interior Ministry, announcing final results, said the People’s Party won the most votes, with 29.6%, and the Social Democrats came in second, slightly behind at 29.1%.

The Social Democrats suffered their worst result in a nationwide poll since Austria first embraced democracy in 1918.

The far right scored 27.6%, its best result in an election and a huge jump from the 5% mark it usually registered before Haider took over the party 10 years ago.

Haider predicted a new pact between rightist parties in the European Parliament by the end of the year to fight against the Maastricht Treaty on closer EU integration.

Voters, hurt by sharp cuts in welfare payments and tax rises designed to prepare the country for Europe’s planned single currency, appeared to have used the election to express frustration with the government’s austerity policies and growing disillusionment with 22 months of EU membership.