The Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) is a far-right political party in Austria, founded on 7 April 1956. The party was founded by supporters of German nationalism, anti-socialism, and anti-Catholic clericalism, and the former Nazi and SS officer Anton Reinthaller was the party's inaugaral leader. The party originally followed a form of national liberalism, but this later evolved into right-wing populism under Jorg Haider during the 1980s. In 1983, the FPO entered the government with the Social Democratic Party of Austria, ending its status as a third party and giving it support from the people, who opposed immigration to their country by Middle Easterners. During the 2010s, as the Syrian Civil War led to refugees pouring into Europe, nativists supported the FPO in elections, and FPO candidate Norbert Hofer just narrowly lost the 2016 presidential election to the Austrian Green Party candidate Alexander Van der Bellen in a disputed election. In 2016, the party held 38/183 National Council seats, 13/61 Federal Council seats, and 4/18 European Parliament seats.
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