As Austria prepares to go to the polls on Sunday, Mr Jorg Haider's far-right Freedom Party looks set to capture almost one third of the votes to become the country's second-largest political force. As the right-wing party overtakes the conservative People's Party, support for the Chancellor, Mr Viktor Klima's Social Democrats has been falling in recent days.
The Chancellor was taken to hospital last week with pneumonia, depriving the Social Democrats of their most effective vote-winner during a crucial phase of the campaign. A day later, the popular Finance Minister, Mr Rudolf Edlinger, suffered a circulatory collapse following a television debate with Mr Haider.
The governing coalition of Social Democrats and conservatives from the People's Party suffered another blow yesterday when the European Union accepted a plan by Slovakia to delay closure of a nuclear power station at Bohunice until 2008. Austria wants the plant to close next year, and the Chancellor yesterday accused Slovakia of breaking a promise to accelerate the shutdown.
The Freedom Party claimed that yesterday's EU decision demonstrated that the ruling coalition was unable to influence Austria's European partners and vindicated the far-right party's anti-EU stance.
Mr Haider was forced to step down as governor of his home state of Carinthia in 1991 after he praised Hitler's employment policies, and he provoked further controversy four years ago when he addressed a group of SS veterans. But he has repackaged himself for the current campaign as a mainstream politician who represents the legitimate voice of opposition in a country that has been governed by the same two parties since the second World War.
The coalition, which has been in power since 1987, can claim some success, especially in the economic sphere, as Austria enjoys the third-lowest unemployment rate in the EU. But relations between the governing parties have become increasingly strained in recent years and some members of the People's Party are tempted to abandon the Social Democrats in favour of an alliance with Mr Haider.
Such a move, which would open the way for Mr Haider to become chancellor, would become more likely if the People's Party fares disastrously on Sunday. But the former chancellor, Mr Franz Vranitzky, urged the governing parties to hold their nerve, no matter what happens on Sunday.
"The majority of Austrians want a grand coalition, just as before. The Social Democrats and the People's Party should come together after the election for calm, confidential talks," he said.
Mr Haider's new gloss of respectability has not prevented his party from campaigning with openly xenophobic slogans such as "Stop the domination by foreigners!" The Chancellor insisted this week that, as far as he is concerned, the far-right leader remains unfit for public office.
"Haider is not a partner with whom one can run a state. For fundamental reasons of conviction, I will certainly not be forming a coalition with this party. That limits my room for negotiation but politics must have something to do with principles and morality," he said.