The far-right party FPÖ has gathered voters who still feel anger over the government's handling of the covid-19 pandemic.
FPÖ was the only party that did not support the measures, says Rutter, referring to Austria's pandemic policy, which the 41-year-old describes as an "orgy" of restrictions.
Rutter, known for spreading conspiracy theories and anti-vaccine messages online, organized massive demonstrations against the government party ÖVP during the pandemic. At several of the protests, FPÖ party leader Herbert Kickl spoke.
Vaccination requirements
55-year-old Kickl – who now hopes to become Austria's next Chancellor – has devoted large parts of the election campaign to criticizing the government's "indoctrination and brainwashing" during the pandemic.
Among other things, he has called the vaccination requirement during covid-19 dictatorial and a "genetic engineering experiment".
During the pandemic, he promoted instead the use of ivermectin as a remedy – a drug that has been proven to be ineffective against the virus, but which was also advocated by Trump-friendly congressmen in the US and former Fox News profile Tucker Carlson.
"Irresponsible"
According to a representative of FPÖ, the support fund aims to help "victims" who suffer from the consequences of covid-19, the restrictions, and vaccination.
Until July, around 3.7 million euros had been paid out through the fund. Today, only residents of the state of Niederösterreich can apply for compensation, but FPÖ's plan is to extend the project to the entire country.
Austria's Health Minister has called the whole thing "irresponsible" and a threat to all vaccination. Opposition Social Democrats have accused FPÖ of having "lost all moral compass".
Austria was among the first in the world to introduce vaccination requirements during the covid-19 pandemic.
In February 2022, a law on mandatory vaccination against covid-19 came into force in the country. The law meant that adult Austrians who did not vaccinate themselves could be fined the equivalent of over 36,000 kronor.
A broad political majority in parliament supported the proposal, only the far-right FPÖ was directly negative. The introduction of the law was met with loud protests from parts of society.
But the law was quickly scrapped: already in early March 2022, plans for controls on citizens were paused, and in June of the same year, the government announced that the law would be repealed entirely.
Health Minister Johannes Rauch then said that the measure had led to deep divisions in the country. The coercion had even caused some to choose not to vaccinate themselves, according to Rauch.
