Head of the Freedom Party (FPOE) Herbert Kickl, left, waves to supporters besides party colleague Susanne Fuerst after his speech at a final election campaign event at St. Stephen’s square in Vienna, Austria, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, ahead of the country’s national election which will take place on Sept. 29. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader)
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By Stephanie Liechtenstein The Associated Press
VIENNA (AP) — The Freedom Party secured the first far-right national parliamentary election victory in post-World War II Austria on Sunday, finishing ahead of the governing conservatives after tapping into anxieties about immigration, inflation, Ukraine and other issues. But its chances of governing were unclear.
Preliminary official results showed the Freedom Party finishing first with 29.2% of the vote and Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s Austrian People’s Party was second with 26.5%. The center-left Social Democrats were in third place with 21%. The outgoing government — a coalition of Nehammer’s party …