Young conservative star Sebastian Kurz is on track to become Austria's next leader after an election on Sunday, but his party is far short of a majority and likely to seek a coalition with the resurgent far-right.
Foreign Minister Kurz, who is just 31, managed to propel his People's Party to first place by taking a hardline on immigration that left little space between it and the far-right Freedom Party (FPO).
Both parties increased their share of the vote from the last parliamentary election in 2013, projections showed, marking a sharp shift to the right in the wake of Europe's migration crisis. Chancellor Christian Kern's Social Democrats were in a close race with the FPO for second place.
“I am truly overwhelmed,” Kurz told cheering supporters at an election party after polls closed. “We made the impossible possible. Thank you very much for your commitment and this historic success.”
He was less effusive about his coalition plans. Kurz repeatedly declined to say which option he favoured, adding that he wanted to await the count of postal ballots that will settle the race for second place.
The bulk of those ballots, which are roughly a sixth of those cast, will be counted on Monday.
"Let's give it a couple of days. Then we will see what the result really looks like," Kurz told broadcaster ORF when pressed on what he plans to do. He said he intended to talk to all parties in parliament and did not rule out forming a minority government.
Austria, a wealthy country of 8.7 million people that stretches from Slovakia to Switzerland, was a gateway into Germany for more than 1 million people during the migration crisis that began in 2015. Many of them were fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Austria also took in roughly 1 percent of its population in asylum seekers in 2015, one of the highest proportions on the continent. Many voters feel the country was overrun.
Kurz's strategy of focusing on that issue appears to have paid off, despite economic growth on track to be the fastest in six years and falling unemployment touted by Kern, who depicted Kurz as the candidate of the rich.
A projection by pollster SORA showed Kurz's People's Party (OVP) winning the election with 31.6 percent of the vote, based on a count of all non-postal ballots. The OVP's current coalition partners, Kern's Social Democrats, were on 26.9 percent, just ahead of the FPO on 26.0 percent.
The projection had a margin of error of 0.7 percentage points, meaning the race for second place was too close to call.
Another projection by pollster ARGE Wahlen had the Social Democrats just 0.5 percentage points ahead of the FPO.
(This article has been edited for length)
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