Migration debate dominates Austrian election

Voting in a snap election in Austria is currently underway, with head of the People’s Party (OVP) Sebastian Kurz, 31, projected to obtain more than 30% of the vote and become the EU’s youngest leader.

He is expected to form a coalition with the eurosceptic right-wing Freedom Party (FPOe), which is expected to place second or third. The FPOe was founded by ex-Nazis following the end of the Second World War and almost won the presidency last December.

In a campaign dominated by migration, Kurz has pledged to shut down the main migrant routes, through the Balkans and the Mediterranean, into Europe.

He also announced plans to cap benefits for refugees at significant below the general level, and to stop other foreigners receiving such payments unless they have lived in Austria for at least five years.

“We must stop illegal immigration to Austria because otherwise there will be no more order and security,” he told Austrian tabloid Österreich on Friday.

Kurz forced Austria into a snap election when he refused to continue in a coalition government with the Social Democrats, having reinvented the OVP and moved it rightward when he became party leader in May. This comes as nationalist movements are on the rise across Germany, Hungary and Poland.

Polling booths are expected to close at 5:00pm local time today.