Austria went to the polls this weekend for general
elections. Outside the country not a lot of people have paid attention to the event.
Therefore, they failed to notice a very serious increase in the popular support
for the right-wing populists and the Euro-sceptics. Together they collected more
than 30% of the votes.
This is bad news for those who would like to push for more
European integration. However, the governing grand coalition of Social
Democrats (SPÖ) and conservative People's Party (ÖVP) is expected to continue
in power. They got 50.9% of the vote. This is small and one would not be
surprised if some of their new policies are no more than an adaptation of what
the Right-wingers and the Euro-sceptics have advocated during their electoral
campaigns. One of those policy lines has to do with a tougher stance when it
comes to bailing out other EU member states.
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