The Austrian president, Alexander van der Bellenhas opened the door to an Executive led by the far-right and pro-Russian party FPÖ, with whose leader Herbert Kickl he will meet this Monday in search of a solution that allows “a stable Government.”
The voices of rejection among the conservatives of the ÖVP to enter a government with the FPÖ “have decreased significantly,” explained the president in a brief appearance before the media. “Democracy is about seeking solutions and compromises,” added van der Bellern, originally from the Greens, although formally independent.
The statement by the head of state, whose powers include the task of forming a government, follows the announcement of the resignation on Saturday of the acting chancellor and leader of the Austrian Popular Party, Karl Nehammer. His decision came after the failure of negotiations for a coalition government between his conservative party, the social democrats and the liberals of the Neos party, which would have left Kickl’s far-right out of power.
The interim leadership of the ÖVP has been assumed by its general secretary, Christian Stocker. Next week, an acting chancellor is expected to be appointed to replace Nehammer, who took office in 2021, until the election of the next head of government.
The FPÖ was the party with the most votes in the general elections on September 29, obtaining nearly 29% of the votes. The rest of the Austrian parliamentary spectrum, including Nehammer, ruled out any cooperation with this party, representative of the most entrenched European far-right, during the campaign. Under Kickl’s leadership, he has added to his xenophobic discourse a clearly pro-Russian line and against aid to Ukraine, which is similar to the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán.
Given the foreseeable lack of allies, President van del Bellen entrusted the formation of the government to Nehammer, whose party had come in second place three points behind. The still chancellor thus entered into negotiations with the social democrats and liberals with the aim of achieving a solid parliamentary majority.
The FPÖ has previous experiences as a junior partner of federal governments, the last of which was under the conservative Sebastian Kurz as chancellor. If the commission is formally received and the negotiations are successful, predictably with the popular party, the far-right could gain access to the Austrian federal chancellery for the first time. For now, the interim leader of the popular Stocker has declared that, if invited, he will not refuse a negotiation with Kickl’s party.
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