[TCF] Unmarred by Russian spying scandal, Austria’s far-right expected to cruise to victory in European elections

For the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), the weeks are going by like clockwork. The far-right party continues to top the polls. It is expected to clinch a comfortable victory in the European elections on 9 June with almost 27% of the vote, well ahead of the Social Democrats of the SPÖ (23%) and the conservatives of the ÖVP, currently in power (21%).

What’s more, polls also put the FPÖ in first place in the country’s legislative elections in September, with 30% of the vote (compared with 21% for the SPÖ and 20% for the ÖVP). To the party’s leaders, these encouraging predictions represent a historic opportunity to place one of their own in the post of Chancellor for the first time, a positi…