Austria's Far-Right Freedom Party Leader Hits Record Approval
The survey, conducted by the Linz-based Market Institute, puts Kickl’s personal approval rating at 35%, the highest level recorded for him to date. His party is polling even stronger, with 37% support—nearly double that of the ruling Austrian People's Party (OVP), which stands at 19%.
“We have seen hardly any shifts in party preferences in recent weeks, which makes the responses to the chancellor question all the more striking,” wrote David Pfarrhofer, director of the Market Institute, in commentary accompanying the poll.
According to the findings, incumbent Chancellor Christian Stocker now commands the backing of just 10% of respondents.
“We have to go back almost 10 years in our time series to find a similarly weak rating for the incumbent,” Pfarrhofer explained.
The survey places the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPO)—the OVP’s coalition partner—in third position with 18% support. Only 6% of respondents said they would like SPO chairman and Vice-Chancellor Andreas Babler to become chancellor.
Support for the government’s second coalition partner, the liberal Neos party, remains limited, with 10% approval overall. Just 8% of those surveyed favored party leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger as chancellor.
The anti-immigration FPO has repeatedly drawn criticism over racist rhetoric targeting Muslims and migrants. In February 2025, a designated FPO councilor in Hohenberg, Lower Austria, posted a TikTok video in which he said: “You refugees know where you belong: in the oven,” adding: “You Tschuschen, you and your families all belong in the chamber.”
“Tschuschen” is a derogatory Austrian term referring to people of Southeast European or Middle Eastern origin, while references to a “chamber” are widely interpreted as invoking Nazi gas chambers.
The video concludes with the politician performing the Hitler salute.
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