The president of Austria, the progressive Alexander Van der Bellen, has decided to entrust the formation of a new Government to the leader of the Freedom Party (FPÖ), Herbert Kickl, winner of the last elections. The president stated in an appearance that the leader has declared himself prepared to take on the task, while highlighting that the conservatives of the ÖVP have said they are willing to negotiate, which would allow the formation of an Executive with a majority in Parliament. . This opens the door for a far-right leader to assume the leadership of the Government of Austria for the first time in democracy.
After the breakdown, on Saturday, of the negotiations to form an Executive that would leave out the ultras, with 28.8% of the votes – his first victory in legislative elections – Van der Bellen called Herbert Kickl and invited him to a “conversation” this Monday. The president did not explain that he was going to entrust him with the formation of the new Government, as he finally did. Faced with the tradition of giving that mandate to the winner of the elections, Van der Bellen initially left the task in the hands of the then conservative leader, Karl Nehammer, with the argument that all the parties had expressed that they did not want to enter into a coalition with Kickl’s FPÖ.
But the Austrian political scene has changed in just a few days. The Christian Democrats (ÖVP) with the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the Liberals (Neos) to try to agree on a tripartite Government that would leave out the extreme right. The attempt to create a cordon sanitaire at the federal level – which had not existed before, and even less so in the regional executives, since in several of them ÖVP and FPÖ govern together – has failed miserably. Last Friday, Neos boss Beate Meinl-Reisinger walked out of the talks, arguing that the other two parties were unwilling to take the necessary steps for a reform package to curb Austria’s large budget deficit, which reaches 3.7% of the gross domestic product and that puts the next Government before the challenge of saving between 18,000 and 24,000 million euros, according to calculations by the European Commission.
Crossed accusations
The subsequent meeting of only two, between conservatives and social democrats, lasted only a few hours on Saturday. The ÖVP left the table and certified the end of the negotiations, which both parties have attributed to the other’s intransigence. They already started from very distant positions in economic and fiscal matters.
Karl Nehammer, acting chancellor and former leader of the ÖVP, who promised in the electoral campaign that he would not agree on an Executive with Kickl, saw no other way out than to leave, and on Saturday himself announced his resignation from his positions. In his party there have always been supporters of a negotiation with the ultras, with those who have already governed in national executives and with those who agree on economic approaches and share a tough immigration policy.
Just a few hours after his resignation, which will be formalized in the Government in the coming days, the Christian Democratic party took a turn on Sunday in the opposite direction and announced that it would be open to talks with the ultras if they invite them to do so.
It thus assumed that Kickl would be in charge of forming the Government, which leaves the once great traditional Austrian party in the position of partner under the leadership of the ultras – it fell to second position in the September elections, with 26.3%. ―. Stocker admitted that until now he had been very harsh with Kickl, whom he came to describe, like Nehammer, as a danger to democracy and the security of Austria, but he claimed without blinking that the situation has changed and offered to negotiate to guarantee a solid majority in Parliament.
The other way out of the blockade would imply early elections with bad expectations for the ÖVP, which has continued to fall in the polls after the September elections and has been overtaken again by the ultras in the regional elections of Styria (southern of the country) in November, where he has already agreed to govern with them.
Several hundred people, according to the Austrian media, gathered this Monday around the Chancellery building to protest at the prospect of an ultra head of government. Representatives of several NGOs and civil organizations have joined the call launched by an organization of Jewish students. A demonstration with the same purpose is announced for Thursday, to show the rejection of the fact that for the first time in democracy the ultra party heads the Executive leadership.
Kickl, 56, took over the reins of the FPÖ in June 2021 after removing Norbert Hofer, considered more moderate, from the leadership. He had risen to the top after the scandal over , that cost the vice chancellorship in 2019 to former leader Heinz-Christian Strache in the coalition government with the Christian Democrat Sebastian Kurz, who broke the pact after the release of a video recorded with a hidden camera in Ibiza in which the ultra proposed dubious businesses and perks to a false Russian oligarch in exchange for his support. The matter, which also cost Kickl himself the position of Minister of the Interior and ended with the third participation of the ultras in a national Government since World War II, in the early elections that same year, but its current leader has returned it to the front line, Eurosceptic positions and opposition to sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, and the promise to fight against “the system.”
Kickl, which is presented as a future People’s Chancellora people’s chancellor, a term with Nazi resonances, exhibits a good relationship with the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and frequently praises the authoritarian management of the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, who has also been the first international guest in the newly constituted Austrian Parliament after the elections, chaired by the ultra Walter Rosenkranz. The FPÖ is part of the group led by Orbán and Marine Le Pen, Patriots for Europe, in the European Parliament.
The prospect of a far-right chancellor puts the progressive Van der Bellen in an uncomfortable situation, to say the least. Taking the oath as chancellor is a power of the president of Austria, who can also veto the appointment of ministers. Van der Bellen, former leader of the Greens who ran for office as an independent and won the election precisely against an ultra candidate, Norbert Hofer, has on several occasions hinted at his rejection of the FPÖ’s approaches.
Last year, when he stated in an interview that he would not like to favor a party that is “anti-European and does not condemn Russia’s war in Ukraine.” It was a direct reference to Kickl, although he did not say what he would do if he had the option of being chancellor. The FPÖ leader replied with disdain that Van der Bellen is a “mummy”, “senile” and “comatose”.
This Monday, after their meeting, Kickl stated that they had “a good conversation.” For his part, the president has highlighted that he has discussed with the ultra leader the difficult economic situation in Austria, which will require a clean-up of public accounts and foreseeably unpopular decisions, the “threat situation” of Russia and its invasion of Ukraine, the need for strengthening collaboration in the EU and on “media freedom” in Austria.
Van der Bellen thus indirectly pointed to the message that he has transmitted several times since the elections: the need to respect the rule of law, human and minority rights, freedom of the press and membership in the EU as the bases of democracy. “I have not taken this measure lightly. I will ensure the correct compliance with the constitutional principles and norms,” the federal president concluded his speech today after entrusting Kickl with the formation of the Government with the support of Stocker’s Christian Democrats.
