New Coalition Forms In Austria, Excludes Leading Anti-Migration Party

After months of trying to form a government, the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), led by Herbert Kickl, which came first in Austria’s elections in late 2024, has been excluded from a coalition formed by the other mainstream parties. The new coalition appears to have a very slightly softer policy agenda on immigration than the stridently anti-migration FPÖ, though still seeking to keep more people from coming.

The FPÖ stormed last September’s election, with a campaign heavily focussed on reducing immigration to Austria and expelling more people already there. It was the first time in the party’s history that they came first, ahead of the more traditional conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), and Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ). Leader Kickl, however, known to be a political firebrand, had already found himself on the wrong side of the other party leaders, with the ÖVP saying they would refuse to form a government with the FPÖ if he remained in charge.

Now, the ÖVP, SPÖ and liberal NEOS party (who received 26.3%, 21.1% and 9.1% of the vote, in contrast to the FPÖ’s 28.8%) have agreed to form a coalition, after urging from Austria’s President Alexander Van der Bellen.

A lot of the negotiations in forming this coalition came down to economic concerns, but immigration was discussed at length. In the runup to the elections, all the main parties signalled a hardening stance on the matter, particularly irregular migration and asylum seekers, with the leaders of both the ÖVP and SPÖ expressing support for increasing deportation, ‘off-shoring’ asylum seekers, and instituting limits on asylum applications.

In the wake of the election, however, and in contrast to the FPÖ’s strident anti-immigration rhetoric (who had run under the slogan ‘Fortress Austria’), the new coalition appears to be taking a very slightly less hardline stance, though one that still aims to reduce the amount of people entering.

According to Reuters, who reviewed the new coalition’s policy materials, the group will continue to pursue measures to limit the amount of refugees and asylum seekers entering Austria, including pausing family reunification, working with third countries to prevent further migration, resisting resettlement from other EU countries, and creating powers to seize asylum seekers’ belongings. The coalition also intends to pursue instituting a ‘handbrake’ on further asylum applications if it’s deemed to be increasing.

On the other hand, there appears to be an increased focus on integrating people who are already in the country. This includes integration and civic values programmes, though some measures appear to involve aspects that could be perceived as targetting Muslim communities, such as signing declarations against anti-semitism as well as a proposed ban on religious headscarves.

The success of the FPÖ in Austria’s elections is reflected in the historic result for the German equivalent Alternative for Germany party, who similarly have been excluded from government despite coming in second in February’s elections. In both countries, the historic support for anti-immigration parties is likely to place immense pressure on the governing coalitions to address concerns over immigration. With that in mind, the very slightly less hardline stance the new Austrian coalition appears to be taking is as much as could be expected.