Austrian far-right party hopes for its first national election win in a close race

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00:00Polls opened in Austria on Sunday in a parliamentary election that could lead to the far-right

00:06Freedom Party's first victory.

00:09The far-right has tapped into voter frustration over high inflation, the war in Ukraine, and

00:14the COVID pandemic.

00:16But front and center has been immigration, with the Freedom Party calling for a more

00:21homogenous society, stirring up fears of violence, and advocating for the deportation of what

00:27they deem to be undesirable immigrants.

00:33It's not acceptable that we have to protect our people from those who are coming here

00:37looking for protection.

00:39Something's wrong with the system, and that's why we finally need re-migration.

00:43I don't even know why this word is supposed to be so evil.

00:47Nonetheless, a win for the Freedom Party isn't certain, with recent polls pointing to a close

00:54race.

00:55The far-right Freedom Party, the conservative Austrian People's Party, and the center-left

01:00Social Democrats are each polling to receive about a quarter of the votes.

01:05The Social Democrats have portrayed the elections as a fight for democracy itself.

01:13There is a turning point in the republic with a radicalism, with a radicalization of the

01:18Freedom Party, and also the Austrian People's Party, a radicalization of a society that

01:24we do not want to imagine.

01:26The danger is there if they come into government office, and it is not only Herbert Kickl,

01:31it is the entire Freedom Party that endangers this democratic republic.

01:36Even though the ruling Austrian People's Party and the Freedom Party overlap on issues such

01:41as tougher immigration rules and tax cuts, the head of the Austrian People's Party said

01:46they would not be open to forming a joint coalition.

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