Far-right FPÖ leads as Austrians head to polls in pivotal election on Sunday

Austrians will vote on Sunday in parliamentary elections, which polls suggest could be narrowly won by the country's far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) for the first time in the party's history.

The FPÖ, one of Europe's oldest far-right parties, is leading in polls with 28% of the vote, according to a survey carried out in early September by the Market-Lazarsfeld Institute.

Even if the party were to win its predicted share, it is unlikely it would be able to form a majority.

Finding a coalition partner with which to form a government might also be a challenge as several other parties, including the ruling conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), have ruled entering a coalition as a junior partner with them.

Nevertheless, if the FPÖ were to make it into power as a lead coalition partner, Austria would join several other European countries where the government is pushing further to the right after gaining support on an anti-immigration and broadly Eurosceptic platform.

The FPÖ and its leader Herbert Kickl's manifesto is anti-immigrant, decisively Eurosceptic and proposes a ban on what it describes as "political Islam".

Its programme plans to cut provisions for asylum seekers and irregular migrants, as well as block family reunification visas in Austria.

It has also touted a commitment to "remigration" — a vaguely worded strategy of returning people to their country of origin, potentially including people born in Austria.

It has also said it is opposed to EU sanctions against Russia and providing Ukraine with further aid.

"With Kickl, the party entered the territory of the extreme-right, which is a badge he wears with pride," Valentina Ausserladscheider, assistant professor of economic sociology at the University of Vienna,