The rise of far right political parties in Europe has raised serious concerns across the continent’s traditional political establishment. Although the election result in the Austrian Presidential race is still too close to call after last night’s ballot, the fact that the candidate of the populist Freedom party ‘FPO’, Norbert Hofer could be the first far right politician to gain power in a major European country shows European voters are disenfranchised and are turning their backs on the traditional conservative and socialist leaning parties.

In another European country, Cyprus, an extreme right party affiliated to Greece’s ‘Golden Dawn’ party has won two seats in the parliament for the first time, after last night’s election results. Political pundits express fears that whether the Austrian far right candidate finally wins or not, his impressive showing will have a domino effect on the rest of Europe, which is facing a triple crisis, the large refugee influx, security fears and the ongoing economic crisis plaguing the south.

With postal ballots accounting for 14% of eligible voters still not tabulated, Hofer has a small 3.9% lead (51.9%) over his opponent Alexander Van der Bellen, who is running as an independent (48.1%). Poll companies project a dead heat with the inclusion of postal votes. The final results is projected to be in at around 6pm Greek time.