Austrian Parliamentary Elections on September 29

(Patria) - Austria's ruling coalition of conservatives and Greens will call the next general elections for September 29, at the end of the five-year parliamentary term.

This was confirmed by Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, postponing a duel with the far-right as much as possible.

The far-right Freedom Party (FPO) is clearly leading in pre-election polls and has capitalized on the current government's unpopularity following crises such as the pandemic and inflation significantly higher than the eurozone average.

The anti-immigration FPO won the European Parliament elections for the first time on Sunday, but only by one percentage point over Nehammer's People's Party (OVP), which is less than what pre-election and exit polls predicted.

- At tomorrow's government meeting, September 29 will be set as the date for the National Council elections - said Nehammer, referring to the lower house of the Austrian parliament.

Since they would likely lose seats in any early elections, the conservatives and Greens are practically condemned to cooperate until the end of the term despite conflicts on key issues such as immigration and repeated speculation about early elections.

However, in recent months, these speculations have weakened, and parliamentary elections were generally expected to be held in the last week of September.

- I can promise voters that I have understood the message. There is great dissatisfaction that was visible today - Nehammer told reporters on election night on Sunday, when it became clear that the FPO had won.

Pre-election polls for the parliamentary elections predict around 30 percent support for the FPO, with the OVP and Social Democrats competing for second place with around 20 percent support.

Forming a coalition will likely be difficult, given that the leaders of all five parliamentary parties have ruled out the possibility of a coalition with FPO leader Herbert Kickl.