Politics Austria: Right-wing FPÖ receives mandate to form government
Austria's Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen has officially given the right-wing populist FPÖ the mandate to form a government. The head of state made the announcement at a press conference in Vienna. Party leader Herbert Kickl should enter into talks with the conservative ÖVP, said Van der Bellen. This would mean that the FPÖ could take over the chancellorship in Austria for the first time.
06.01.2025, 13:47
SDA
The country needs a viable government, especially in the current extremely difficult economic situation. Kickl had assured him in the meeting that he was confident that he would be able to take on the role of Chancellor, said Van der Bellen. "Respect for the voters' vote demands that the Federal President respects the majority", even if he himself may have different wishes and ideas. "I did not take this step lightly," he said.
The meeting between Van der Bellen and Kickl, which lasted around an hour, was accompanied by protests. Hundreds of demonstrators marched in front of the presidential chancellery, warning of a huge shift to the right.
The FPÖ won the parliamentary elections in September with just under 29% of the vote. Initially, no one wanted to govern with the right-wing populists. However, talks about a government of centrist parties failed.
ÖVP ready to cooperate after change of course
Following the announcement of Chancellor Karl Nehammer's resignation at the weekend, the ÖVP has changed course. It has declared its willingness to form a government as the FPÖ's junior partner.
The conservative ÖVP and the right-wing FPÖ had already formed coalitions in the 2000s and between 2017 and 2019 - albeit under ÖVP heads of government.
However, the two parties would first have to agree on a government program again. The views of the two parties appear to largely coincide on issues such as migration and taxes. However, there are differences between the pro-Moscow and EU-critical FPÖ and the ÖVP on issues such as foreign and security policy.
A major sticking point is overcoming the budget crisis
The President of the Fiscal Council, Christoph Badelt, said on ORF that joint concepts for overcoming the deep budget crisis were also completely open. It was questionable whether a new chancellor from the FPÖ would want to start with unpopular austerity measures or tax increases, Badelt continued. "We all don't know what the FPÖ would actually be prepared to do when it really comes to budget consolidation." Austria urgently needs to balance its budget in order to avoid an EU deficit procedure.
The EU's budget rules stipulate that the budget deficit in EU countries must not exceed three percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The debt level should also not exceed 60 percent of GDP. The EU Commission expects Austria to have a budget deficit of around 3.6 percent in both 2025 and 2026.
The head of state, former leader of the Greens, had repeatedly emphasized in his statements that he would ensure "to the best of his knowledge and belief" that the cornerstones of democracy - he mentioned the rule of law, the separation of powers, free, independent media and EU membership - would continue to be upheld.
Failure of the three-party and two-party coalition talks
Contrary to custom, Van der Bellen did not ask the FPÖ, the party with the most votes, to form a government after the parliamentary elections. He took into account the fact that none of the other parties wanted to form a coalition with the FPÖ under Kickl and that, in his view, such a mandate would only have meant "empty kilometers".
A few days ago, however, the coalition talks between the ÖVP, SPÖ and liberal Neos failed after weeks of negotiations. The attempt at a two-party coalition between the ÖVP and SPÖ was also quickly ended. The cards were thus reshuffled.
