A victory for Herbert Kickel’s party would make Austria the latest EU country to register growing support for the far-right.

Austria’s Freedom Party (FPO) is likely to come out on top in the country. General electionsBeyond the ruling conservatives, the level of immigration has sparked concern, indicating growing support for hard-right parties in Europe.

An exit poll by pollster Foresight for broadcaster ORF predicted Sunday. Herbert Kickle’s FPO With 29.1 percent of the vote, Chancellor Karl Nehmer’s Austrian People’s Party (OVP) came in second with 26.2 percent.

The centre-left Social Democrats (SDP) are likely to come third with 20.4 percent.

A separate projection by pollster Arj Wahlen also had the FPO in first place, winning by about four percentage points, indicating a larger winning margin than the final polls showed.

The projections were greeted with enthusiasm by party staff and supporters at an FPO event in the capital Vienna.

Kiel, a former interior minister who has led the FPO since 2021, is seeking to become Austria’s new chancellor after the far-right won the country’s first national election since World War II.

However, the 55-year-old will need a coalition partner to secure a majority in the lower house of parliament – and rivals have said he will not work with him.

The FPO is ready to negotiate with all parties to form a government, Kiel told national broadcaster ORF after the projections were released.

Talking to other party leaders, Khil said that other parties should reconsider their refusal to form an alliance with him.

The OVP, which like the FPO supports tougher immigration laws and tax cuts, is the only party open to forming a coalition with the far-right party – but without the kicker.

In his first remarks since the election, Nehammer said he stood by his refusal to form a government with the head of the FPO.

Concerns over the country’s economy and immigration dominated the campaign period and largely drained the OVP of votes.

Nazi roots.

Al Jazeera’s Ida Duratovic, reporting from Vienna, said both the OVP and the SDP had previously been in power with the FPO but did not want to repeat that this time.

He said many people in Austria believed the FPO was controversial because of its Nazi origins.

“Their founders were an SS officer and a Nazi minister,” he said, adding that some in Austria do not believe the party has completely divorced itself from its Nazi roots.

“Herbert Kiel calls himself the ‘people’s chancellor,’ which is a term Adolf Hitler used to describe himself,” Duratovich added.

A win for the FPO would make Austria the latest EU country to see a surge in support for the far-right, following wins in countries including the Netherlands, France and Germany.

The Eurosceptic party – which criticizes Islam, has close ties to Russia and promises tougher laws on asylum seekers – won the national vote for the first time in June when it beat the OVP by one percentage point in European elections. Even less defeated.

President Alexander van der Bellen, who oversees the formation of governments, has expressed concerns about the FPO because of its criticism of the EU and its failure to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The party opposes EU sanctions on Moscow, citing Austria’s neutrality.

The president has hinted that he may defeat Kill, saying the constitution does not require him to ask the first-placed party to form a government, although that has long been the convention.