Earlier this year, Austria called a snap election to reduce conflict within its governing parties. Now the Oct. 15 vote is fast approaching. According to the final poll before the elections, published by Research Affairs/Osterreich on Oct. 5, the center-right Austrian People's Party (OVP) is preferred by 34 percent of polled voters, followed by the right-wing Freedom Party (FPO) with 27 percent and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPO) with 22 percent.

There are three additional parties that are likely to enter the legislature, based on Austrian rules that political parties can enter parliament if they earn at least 4 percent of the vote. However, the New Austria and Liberal Forum (with the support of 6 percent of poll voters), the Greens (with 5 percent) and Peter Pilz's List (with 4 percent), are probably not going to play a significant role in the negotiations to form a coalition.

Like Germany, Austria has been ruled by a grand coalition of the center-right and center-left in recent years. And, similar to the scenario faced by Germany's moderate parties, popular discontent with the centrist coalition has resulted in increasing support for far-right parties. However, unlike Germany's moderate parties, the Austrian OVP and to some extent the SPO have reacted to the success of the far-right by increasingly adopting right-wing positions to prevent a loss of votes. And now, after increasing disagreement over issues such as low economic growth and pressure over the refugee crisis, the OVP and SPO have ruled out the possibility of creating another coalition together.

That means that the FPO is likely to enter the ruling coalition, especially considering that, unlike in Germany, the possibility of far-right parties entering the government is not taboo in Austria. Though the FPO failed to win the race for the Austrian presidency in 2016, it has formed ruling coalitions with both moderate parties in the past: It was in coalitions with the SPO from 1983-1986 and from 1986-1987 and more recently with the OVP from 2000-2003 and from 2003-2007.

Back in 2000, the FPO's membership in Austria's ruling coalition became a cause of severe tension with the European Union. After all, just five years after it entered the European Union, it became in 2000 the first member state with a far-right party in power. Bloc leaders immediately decided to introduce diplomatic sanctions against Austria, though they were lifted after a few months.

A new Austrian government including the FPO is sure to again introduce tension into the country's relationship with the European Union. Even though the topic of EU membership has largely been absent from the party's current election campaign (which has primarily focused on immigration), the FPO has supported referendums on Austria's EU membership in the past. And the party could use membership in a ruling coalition to resist increasing European integration and to demand the repatriation of some powers.

Any Austrian government including the FPO probably wouldn't do anything that would challenge Austria's EU or eurozone membership, but it would likely be more critical of the European Union and more reluctant to give up additional national sovereignty to EU institutions. Furthermore, it could take a strong stance on immigration and relations with Turkey, or even weaken the European Commission's credibility in managing the disregard for EU law in Hungary and Poland.

While the Austrian election will not be as crucial for the future of the European Union as votes in Germany and France were earlier this year, it will reveal the extent to which nationalist sentiments are still strong in the bloc.