After the political scandal around the current Austrian government, 59.8% of Austrian voters turned out to cast their vote in the 2019 European Parliament elections.
The governing center-right ÖVP (EPP) gained 35.4% of the votes, surging ahead of the center-left SPÖ (S&D) which landed at 23.5%. The populist FPÖ (ENF) lost votes and won 17.3% of the votes. The Greens celebrated a political comeback with 13.6% and the Liberal NEOS (ALDE&R) gained 8.4%.
Surveys suggested that the EU elections were utilised by many voters to also set a sign for local politics, however the political scandal around the former Minister for Interior did now affect the ruling parties’ majority.
Once the UK leaves the EU later this year, Austria will be attributed an additional seat in the European Parliament. This seat will likely go to a Green MEP.
