At a beer-fueled meeting of Austria's far-right Freedom Party this week, members of parliament referred to Afghan refugees as “knife-wielding sex offenders” and to the EU's “repression of speech”, hidden camera footage has revealed.

BRUSSELS ― The European Commission has approved an Austrian plan to slash public spending that looks set to underpin the program of a potential far-right-led government.

ECB rate-setter also warns that inflation risks are on the rise and that a January rate cut is not a done deal.

Elon Musk may steal headlines with his zeal for Germany’s AfD party, but sentiments are shifting well beyond Berlin.

Austrian negotiators trying to form a nationalist-conservative government will target €6.3 billion ($6.4 billion) in immediate budget spending cuts to avoid being reprimanded by the European Union.

Austria wore out the cordon sanitaire long ago. For much of the postwar era, the Freedom party was excluded by a series of grand coalitions (barring a single early-1980s coalition with the Social Democrats),

Austrian advocacy group Noyb has filed privacy complaints against TikTok and five other Chinese companies in the EU. Noyb claims that these tech firms are unlawfully transferring the data of users in the European Union to China.

Both have said their inspiration is Denmark, but Denmark has an opt-out from EU asylum policy, which Austria does not. In 2022, Denmark agreed with Rwanda to explore setting up a system under which asylum seekers arriving in Denmark could be transferred there.

FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl, who has been tasked with forming a coalition government, is opposed to sanctions against Russia, advocates for the remigration of foreigners and rejects the European Green Deal.

Austrian farmers demonstrated Thursday in Vienna against the South American Mercosur free trade agreement. A mountain of paper was symbolically unloaded in front of parliament during the protest that was organized by the Independent Farmers' Association of Austria (UBV).

Buoyed by the endorsement of Elon Musk and enjoying new highs in the polls ahead of elections in February, Germany's far-right AfD is hoping for a further boost from the success of the far right in neighbouring Austria.

Tens of thousands of people protested across Austria on Thursday against the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe)'s possible return to power after it was tasked with trying to form a government.