• Profile: Norbert Hofer, the kind face of populism in Austria

Austria holds early general elections tomorrow, after a campaign that started dirty and ended up boring. The populist Freedom Party (FPÖ) managed to narrow the scandal of the 'Ibigate', trigger of the rupture of the government coalition of former Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz last May, exonerating the party from the behavior of "some individuals", in this case of which was its leader, Heiz-Christian Strache. The 'hacking' to the computer system of the Popular Party (ÖVP) of Kurz was parked and the migration, 'Trojan horse' in the last elections, went side by side with the occasional reference to Spain so it cannot be done. "If I analyze how Spain's immigration policy has changed in the last 10 years, in the direction of more open borders; if I do the same with the new line of Italy and its safe ports, I can only say that this is the opposite of a policy immigration, "said Kurz, who blamed Europeans for the immigration crisis. "We are not sending the right signal to Africa and to human traffickers . "

With the discussion on pensions, taxes, employment and the climate as the only points of controversy, the only ingredients that kept the campaign warm were made by the Prosecutor's Office with its investigation of the accounting irregularities of the FPÖ and connections with the far-right movement, Identitarians Its leader, Martin Sellner, received a donation from the author of the attack on two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch.

Thus the panorama, four months after the fall of the Executive and a Government of Italian technocrats, the most relevant of the campaign that is now seen for sentencing has been its similarity to the operettas that are represented in the halls of Vienna. It wasn't bad to hang out.

Kurz will win again and will probably do it again with the FPÖ, as a majority of the left is not expected and the great coalition is ruled out. The latest polls give the ÖVP 10 points advantage over its most direct rival, the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), which remains trapped at the 20-23% fork despite the impetus of its new leader and first woman to hold that position in Austria , Pamela Rendi-Wagner. The FPÖ will be the third most voted formation with between 20-21% , which confirms the fidelity of its electorate despite the scandals, while NEOS liberals would obtain 8%.

The only news of the election day would be the departure of Parliament from the Pilz List, in itself irrelevant and the return to the House of the Greens. It is in the air if it will be with one or two digits, although for Austria's best-known political scientist, this is irrelevant: "I am left with the fact that The Greens who have done the work for them have been a 16-year-old girl. Greta Thumberg achieved in a few months what environmentalists have been trying for years "declared with his usual sarcasm Peter Filzmayer.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Austria
  • Spain
  • Africa

Politics Albert Rivera says that Pedro Sánchez "is the problem": "Return to constitutionalism"

Interview Antonio Bonet: "Our competitiveness gain is based on the salary reduction and is not sustainable"

Terrorism The Prosecutor asks Interior for more protection against jihadist threats