Austrian Far-Right Fails To Form New Government

• 12.02.2025, 18:13

Early elections are now possible.

Negotiations on forming a coalition government between the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and the conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) have failed in Austria, BILD reports.

FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl announced the failure of the negotiations after a meeting with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen in Vienna. Kickl said he was returning the mandate to form a government because the parties had failed to agree on the distribution of key ministerial posts.

The main stumbling block was the Ministry of the Interior, which both parties were vying for. According to BILD, the ruling ÖVP refused to hand over this post to the FPÖ due to its pro-Russian stance. The FPÖ signed a partnership agreement with the United Russia party back in 2016, which raised concerns about the leak of secret information to the Kremlin.

Now early elections or the formation of a caretaker government under the president are possible. The left-wing parties have already called for new coalition talks without the FPÖ, but their previous attempt to reach an agreement failed.

At the same time, the FPÖ is not afraid of new elections: if the party won 29% of the votes in the parliamentary elections in autumn 2024, now, according to opinion polls, its support has grown to 34%. Until a new government is formed in the country, the current ministers from the ÖVP and the Greens will continue to perform their duties.