Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPO) lost ground in provincial elections yesterday in the second electoral test in six weeks which showed its popularity has suffered since it entered national government.
It was only the second time since September 1986, just after the populist Mr Jorg Haider became FPO leader, that the anti-immigration group failed to increase its share of the vote.
Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel's conservative People's Party (OVP) also slipped slightly in the Burgenland election, which saw the province's dominant Social Democrats (SPO) unexpectedly gain ground despite a damaging local banking scandal.
With 97 per cent of the vote counted, the FPO had won 12.6 per cent, down from 14.6 per cent in 1996, while the OVP appeared likely to get 35.4 per cent, a loss of 0.7 per cent.
The SPO, in opposition nationally since February, received 46.6 per cent, a rise of 2.1 per cent, while the Greens seemed set to enter the provincial parliament for the first time after receiving 5.4 per cent.
