One year into office, Austria’s grand coalition is under pressure from the growing popularity of the far-right Freedom Party

Austria held a general election in 2013, with the centre-left SPÖ and centre-right ÖVP ultimately forming a ‘grand coalition’. Philipp Decker assesses the government’s first year in office and where it stands in the context of current public opinion in Austria. He writes that the two mainstream parties are increasingly coming under pressure from the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), which has effectively positioned itself in opposition to the governing parties on issues such as the military, European integration, and the government’s approach to Islam.