VIENNA: Austria entered uncharted territory Monday after the far right scored a historic national election win, with parties facing an uphill task to form a new government. The far-right Freedom Party, also known as FPOe, under Herbert Kickl has rapidly regained ground lost in a string of corruption scandals, winning 28.8 percent in Sunday’s vote, according to preliminary projections. The FPOe beat the ruling conservative OeVP into second place and the left-wing Social Democrats, also known as SPOe, into third on 21.1 percent. But all other parties have refused to work with Kickl because of his radical proposals. “Winner — and what now?” said the daily Kurier’s main headline with a photo of Kickl giving a thumbs-up. A vocal critic of the EU and its sanctions against Russia for its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Kickl’s abrasiveness has left him isolated among Austrian lawmakers — and beyond. Uncertainty over what would happen next dominated the Alpine country, as Kickl’s FPOe could end up being sidelined like some of its far-right allies in Europe. “Times are changing,” Dutch far-right firebrand Geert Wilders posted on the X social media platform after Austria’s election results were announced, listing 11 European countries where nationalist parties were “winning.” In neighboring Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban hailed the FPOe victory as “another win for the #Patriots.” With Sunday’s victory ahead of the OeVP, Kickl surpassed results bagged by his predecessors Joerg Haider and Heinz-Christian Strache. But apart from a few hundred protesters, the far-right win did not trigger major demonstrations. “We were expecting it, so we’re neither totally shocked nor delighted,” Isabella, a Vienna woman who declined to give her surname, said. Austria’s powerful Kronen Zeitung tabloid noted that “something revolutionary hangs in the air,” adding that coalition talks would be “tough, long and turbulent.”