The number of far right offences in Austria continued to rise in the first half of 2026, with 862 incidents recorded across the country. The figure was nearly 10 percent higher than during the same period last year, according to figures provided by Interior Minister Gerhard Karner in response to a parliamentary question from Social Democratic lawmaker Sabine Schatz.
The increase follows a steady rise in recent years. Austria recorded 1,208 far-right incidents in 2023, 1,486 in 2024 and 1,986 last year. The full figure for 2026 is not yet available, reported by derStandard.
Of the incidents reported in the first six months of this year, 761 were classified as explicitly far right. A further 55 were linked to racist motives, 26 to antisemitism and 12 to Islamophobia. Authorities recorded 1,004 police reports connected to far right, xenophobic, racist, anti Muslim or antisemitic acts.
Reports under Austria’s Prohibition Act increased from 785 in the first half of 2025 to 887 this year. Most suspects were young men, while one in five was aged between 14 and 18. The offences included property damage, violations of the Prohibition Act and physical attacks. About a quarter took place online.
The figures come as far right organisations continue to mobilise publicly. The Identitarian Movement plans to hold a march on Vienna’s Kahlenberg on Saturday, reviving an event that has not taken place for six years. The group uses the historic Ottoman siege of Vienna to promote an anti Muslim narrative.
Support for the march has also come from neo Nazi and violent hooligan circles, including the Tanzbrigade Wien, a group linking far right politics with football, combat sports and techno events.
Schatz said the rise in offences threatened both public safety and democracy. She urged the government to implement its National Action Plan against Right Wing Extremism, which is expected to be completed this winter and will focus on education, prevention, early detection, law enforcement and rehabilitation.
“Far right crimes and violence must not become something we simply get used to,” Schatz said.
