The extreme right is expected to be the winner of the parliamentary elections held on Sunday in Austria.
Preliminary results show that the far-right Freedom Party FPO has an advantage over the ruling conservatives and is heading for its first victory in the parliamentary elections.
The predictions of the public television ORF, based on the counting of 82.8 percent of the votes, show that the Freedom Party has secured 28.9% of the votes, while the Austrian People's Party of Chancellor Karl Nehammer 26.3%.
Herbert Kickl, a former interior minister who has led the Freedom Party since 2021, is aiming to become Austria's new chancellor if predictions are confirmed, which would make his party the first far-right political force to wins national elections in post-World War II Austria.
But to become Austria's new leader, he will need a coalition partner, and leaders of other parties have ruled out working with him.
A victory for the Freedom Party would cause discord within the European Union over the war in Ukraine.
The FPO had topped the polls for months, but its lead over Chancellor Karl Nehammer's conservative Austrian People's Party has all but disappeared in a campaign dominated by voter concerns over the economy and immigration.
An FPO victory would make Austria the latest EU country to see growing support for the far-right, following a strengthening of the trend in countries such as the Netherlands, France and Germany. VOA