The post of chancellor has become vacant following the resignation of Karl Nehammer
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen has tasked Herbert Kickl, the leader of the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPO), the country’s most popular political force, with holding coalition talks to form a government.
The development comes after weeks of negotiations between the centrist Austrian People’s Party (OVP) and the Social Democratic Party (SPO) collapsed. Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who leads the OVP, has admitted the failure and announced his resignation, citing the need for an “orderly transition.”
Van der Bellen stated that he had directed Kickl to initiate discussions with the OVP. He also appeared to express concerns that the country might face the possibility of having a hardline right-wing leader for the first time since World War II.
“I didn’t take this decision lightly. I will continue to make sure that the principles and rules of our constitution are respected and upheld,” Van der Bellen stated.
“Kickl has the confidence to find viable solutions within the framework of government negotiations and he wants to fulfill this responsibility,” he added.
The FPO emerged victorious in the September vote, securing a decisive 28.8%, with the OVP and SPO getting 26.3% and 21.1%, respectively. The centrists, however, attempted to sideline the right-wing party, unsuccessfully attempting to form a coalition government.
At the time, Van der Bellen tasked Nehammer with forming a government that respects the “foundations of our liberal democracy.”
The ultimate collapse of the negotiations was preceded by the Neos, a minor liberal party, quitting the talks on Friday. The centrists blamed each other for the failure, with Nehammer claiming that “destructive forces” in the SPO had “gained the upper hand” in negotiations and derailed them.
SPO leader Andreas Babler, in turn, accused the OVP of getting the country in a situation where it would have “an FPO-OVP government with a right-wing extremist chancellor that will endanger our democracy in many ways.”
The FPO had formed coalition governments with centrists before but has always been a junior partner in such situations. The latest coalition between the Freedom Party and the OVP emerged in 2018, but the former ended up being forced out of the government the next year.
Under the leadership of Kickl, the party pledged to implement tough immigration restrictions, including the “remigration of uninvited foreigners.” The FPO has also been highly critical of Vienna’s position on the Ukrainian conflict, opposing the EU’s sanctions against Russia and promising to stop paying into the war chest the bloc has used to procure weaponry for Kiev. Together with Ireland and tiny Malta, Austria is one of the few countries in the union that is not a member of NATO.
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