Austrian parliamentarians elected Walter Rosenkranz of the FPÖ to the second-highest position in government. The appointment comes after the Freedom Party won an unprecedented election victory in September.

A lawmaker from the far-right Freedom Party has been elected as the new speaker of Austria’s parliament, weeks after the party won a national election for the first time.

Walter Rosenkranz has become the first member of the Freedom Party to be speaker, one of the country's highest-ranking positions.

The far-right Freedom Party's candidate Walter Rosenkranz was elected with 100 out of 162 valid votes cast, current parliament president Wolfgang Sobotka said on Thursday.

There is a “deadlock” in the process of forming a new Austrian government following the victory of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) in general elections on Sept. 29.

His critics point to his membership of a far-right fraternity and his praise for a prominent Nazi, arguing such a senior office requires a more statesmanlike figure. "It is still difficult for me to realise that you have thus added me to a long line of historic figures of this country,

Austrian lawmakers on Thursday elected for the first time a far-right politician as parliament president despite the Jewish community criticising the nominee for having paid "hommage to Nazi criminals".