Austria: in the run-up to the general election of October 15th. All spotlights are on Vienna, populists take the election test

The early elections, to be held at the same time on October 15^th for the Nationalsrat (National Council) and the Bundesrat (Federal Council), could bring a centre-right coalition between the ad personam group (Neue Volkspartei) of Sebastian Kurz, Minister of Foreign Affairs and People’s Party leader, and the populists of the Freedom Party, to rule the country. The crisis managed by Kurz made the big koalition between the Social Democrats and the Populists collapse over differences about asylum policies and the need to close the borders. Add to this the internal divisions of the Green party that, despite the personality of their newly elected president, Van der Bellen, have split up and will be included in different lists. The Austrian elections promise to be another test for anti-European populists in Europe, and the recent German election make the results of October 15^th particularly interesting from a pro-European point of view. The Austrian Church had repeatedly taken position against the repressive drifts of the Austrian government and called Christians to be supportive, particularlys in the run-up to the election.