It will be the first time that negotiations on the formation of a government in Austria will be led by a far-right party.
Austrian President Alexader Van der Bellen entrusted the chairman of the Free Party of Austria (FPÖ) Herbert Kickl with forming a new government. TASR informs about it according to the AFP agency.
The president told reporters that calling the FPÖ leader was “not an easy decision.” It will be the first time that a far-right party will lead the negotiations to form a government in Austria.
FPÖ won the parliamentary elections at the end of September. the still-ruling People’s Party (ÖVP) then tried to form a coalition of centrist parties with the social-democratic SPÖ and the liberal NEOS party. The goal was to keep right-wing populists out of power.
Coalition negotiations failed over the weekend. First, NEOS left, on Saturday ÖVP and SPÖ could not agree on the topic of reducing the budget deficit
Ľudovec Nehammer maintained his position that he does not want to govern with the FPÖ under the leadership of its leader Kickl. He therefore resigned from the position of chancellor and chairman of the People’s Party and opened the way to cooperation with the FPÖ. The coalition was mainly favored by the economic wing of the party.
The Ľudovci already ruled jointly with the free people between 2017 and 2019 under the leadership of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. After the FPÖ Ibizagate corruption scandal, the coalition collapsed prematurely.
