Jan 17, 2026, 2:44 p.mJan 17, 2026, 2:44 p.m
Herbert Kickl, FPÖ chairman.Image: keystone
The right-wing FPÖ in Austria has reaffirmed its claim to power. If he moves into the Chancellery, a new era will begin, said FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl at the party’s New Year’s meeting. The surveys, which currently see the right-wing populists at almost 40 percent, are not the end. “There is much, much more,” said Kickl in front of around 5,000 supporters in Klagenfurt. It’s about clear power relationships. Kickl is hoping for an absolute majority in the next National Council election. “That is possible.”
The country – according to many statistics one of the richest in the world – is in a catastrophic situation, said the FPÖ leader. The work of the current three-party coalition made up of the conservative ÖVP, the social democratic SPÖ and the liberal Neos only serves to maintain their power and not the people. An FPÖ head of government, on the other hand, would act as a “people’s chancellor” and, among other things, build a “Fortress Austria” against further immigration of migrants.
Launch of the party radio “Austria First”
On the way to possible power, the FPÖ is also expanding its party’s own media house by launching an internet radio. She started a program under the name “Austria First” that will broadcast around the clock. Austria’s “first patriot radio,” Kickl called it. The FPÖ has been operating the wide-reaching FPÖ TV via YouTube since 2012 and uses practically all social media.
The political scientist and FPÖ expert Kathrin Stainer-Hämmerle is critical of the start of the radio. He contributes to the party continuing to evade the discourse on many levels and relying on its party propaganda. The moderator of the ORF news program “ZiB2”, Armin Wolf, pointed out in his blog that Kickl had rejected more than 50 “ZiB2” requests in recent years. The interviews on the show are often conducted particularly critically.
Radio could be particularly successful with young voters
After the many electoral successes in recent years through party financing, the FPÖ claims to have assets worth millions. The party certainly doesn’t have a money problem with the radio project, says Stainer-Hämmerle from the Carinthian University of Applied Sciences. It is attractive for the FPÖ to send “subtle political messages in entertainment formats to an audience that is otherwise little interested in politics,” said the expert, with a view to young voters.
Since the 2024 National Council election, the gap between the ÖVP and FPÖ in the right-of-center camp has grown significantly. While the ÖVP was only around two percentage points behind the FPÖ in 2024, according to surveys, the difference is now almost 20 percentage points. The only realistic chance of preventing an FPÖ chancellor in the election planned for 2029 is, like now, in a three-party coalition, says political scientist Peter Filzmaier. (sda/dpa)