Austria's extreme right seeks a path to power after winning the election

The far-right Freedom Party (EPO) in Austria has won the parliamentary elections there for the first time, but it must look for a partner as it cannot form the government alone.

The triumph of the Eurosceptic and Russia-friendly FPO on Sunday was another milestone in the rise of Europe's hard right.

Confronting FPO party leader Herbert Kickl in a television studio after the results came in, the leaders of the other parties in parliament rejected his proposals to form a coalition.

The FPO finished about 2.5 percentage points ahead of Chancellor Karl Nehammer's conservative People's Party (OVP). The EPO took 29% of the vote, its best ever result, as Kickl accused his rivals of defying the will of the people, Reuters reports.

"Tomorrow is going to be a Blue Monday and then we're going to start turning that 29% into a political reality in this country," Kickl told supporters Sunday night, poking fun at the fact that blue is the color associated with his party.

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Kickl, a provocative and polarizing figure allied with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, offered to negotiate with all other parties in Austria. 

President Alexander Van der Bellen, a former Greens leader who oversees the formation of governments, urged all parties to hold talks.

Kickl's victory further boosted right-wing parties across Europe, where the far right has scored victories in many countries, including the Netherlands, France and Germany. This growing support for the far right could raise the risk of divisions within the European Union over key policy areas, such as the defense of Ukraine against Russia.

However, these victories have not been a guarantee of power for the extreme right, as other parties try to deny them at all costs.

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France's far-right National Rally won the first round of elections in June, but more moderate parties dropped candidates in the second round to help the left win a majority of seats. 

In the Netherlands, nationalist Geert Wilders had to abandon his hopes of being prime minister after coming first in elections there when rivals refused to back a government led by him.