VIENNA — Austrian voters handed a first-ever general election victory to the far-right Freedom Party on Sunday (Sept 29), preliminary results showed, illustrating rising support for hard-right parties in Europe fueled by concern over immigration levels.

The Eurosceptic, Russia-friendly FPO held a slim lead in opinion polls for months over Chancellor Karl Nehammer's ruling conservative Austrian People's Party (OVP) in a campaign dominated by immigration and worries about the economy.

Led by the 55-year-old Herbert Kickl, the FPO won 28.8 per cent of the vote, ahead of the OVP on 26.3 per cent, and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPO) on 21.1 per cent, according to a projection based on nearly all the vote by pollster Foresight for broadcaster ORF, a slightly bigger victory margin than final polls had indicated.

"We've made Austrian history because it's the first time the Freedom Party is Number 1 in a parliamentary election, and you have to think how far we've come," Kickl said after the party's record showing, which came seven decades after its foundation in the 1950s under the leadership of a former Nazi lawmaker.

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