founded in 1956 by a mixture of German nationals (who considered Austria as part of Germany), and national-liberals
Austrian president invites FPÖ leader to try to form a coalition after failed negotiations between conservatives and Social Democrats led to the resignation of the current chancellor
Herbert Kickl, the leader of the Freedom Party in Austria (FPÖ), was this Monday invited to try to form a government, after attempts by centrist parties after the September elections failed, which on Saturday led to the resignation of the chancellor , Karl Nehammer, from the Popular Party (conservatives).
If Kickl manages to obtain sufficient parliamentary support, it will be the first time since World War II that the extreme right heads a government in Austria, after the FPÖ won the legislative elections four months ago, winning 28.8% of the votes, ahead of Nehammer’s party and the Social Democratic Party. This was the first time that the party, founded in 1956 by former Nazis and nationalist liberals, came first in a plebiscite.
The green light from Alexander van der Bellen, the Austrian president, arrived this morning, after a meeting with the far-right leader in Vienna. “Kickl has the necessary confidence to find viable solutions within the framework of government negotiations and wants to assume this responsibility,” said Van der Bellen after the meeting.
This is not the first time that the extreme right has been part of a government in Austria, but it will be the first time that it has headed an executive. From 2017 to 2019, the FPÖ and the conservatives governed together in a coalition in which Kickl served as interior minister and which would involve the far-right party’s then-leader Heinz-Christian Strache and the alleged daughter of a Russian oligarch.
During negotiations in recent months between the People’s Party and the Social Democratic Party, after Van der Bellen instructed the second most voted party in the elections to form a government in October, the conservatives outlined as a red line the formation of a government that would integrate the FPÖ , with other parties also rejecting working with the extreme right.
However, following Nehammer’s departure from the scene, the PP now says it is potentially available to collaborate with Kickl’s party under his leadership. This is, at the moment, the only viable alternative for forming a government given the current composition of parliament, in order to avoid new elections – at a time when polls indicate that, if Austrians return to the polls, the FPÖ could win an even better result than in September.
In its electoral manifesto, Herbert Kickl’s party, entitled “Fortaleza Austria”, advocates more border controls, the suspension of asylum rights using emergency laws and the “remigration of uninvited foreigners” to create a more “homogeneous society ”.
In the international context, the FPÖ opposes sanctions on Russia, is critical of Western support for Ukraine and defends Austria’s withdrawal from the European Sky Shield Initiative, a missile project led by Germany.
