BERLIN — Nearly six months after Austria averted a swing to the right by rejecting an extremist candidate for president, the country appeared poised to clear a path for the far-right Freedom Party to enter into power as the current government teetered on the verge of collapse.

Austrians were not scheduled to elect a new Parliament until September 2018, but after months of bickering, the leaders of the two parties in the current governing coalition met with the president on Monday to seek a date for an election.

The move is expected to open the door for the Freedom Party to enter into government for the second time since it was formed by former Nazis in the 1950s, given its current popularity ahead of either traditional party in opinion polls.

Such a turn would signal that the populist movements and extremist parties in Europe are certainly not dead yet, even after being turned back by voters this year in the Netherlands and France, as well as in Austria last year.