Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s resignation facilitates a smooth governmental transition.
Coalition talks between Austria’s two centrist parties have failed, strengthening the right-wing Freedom Party’s (FPO) influence after its election victory. The negotiations aimed to exclude the FPO, the largest party with 28.8% of the vote in the September 2024 election. Despite efforts by Chancellor Nehammer’s Austrian People’s Party (OVP, 26.3%) and the Social Democratic Party (SPO, 21.1%), disagreements led to the talks’ collapse.
Nehammer, chancellor since 2021, regretted the failure to reach compromises, particularly after the liberal Neos party withdrew on Friday. In a video statement on X, he announced his resignation as chancellor and OVP leader, stating that an agreement proved impossible despite good-faith negotiations.
Nehammer blamed “destructive forces” within the SPO, asserting that “radicals offer no solutions.” SPO leader Andreas Babler countered, accusing the OVP of political maneuvering that would result in an FPO-OVP government under a right-wing extremist chancellor, jeopardizing democracy.
Following the September elections, President Alexander Van der Bellen tasked Nehammer’s conservatives with forming a government upholding liberal democracy, reiterating his call for swift government formation on Friday.
Austria may face new elections if a coalition isn’t formed. Until then, a caretaker government will manage daily affairs.
The FPO, a prominent force since the 1950s, achieved its first national election victory in 2024. While previously part of coalition governments (1999 and 2018), it was removed in 2019.
Under Herbert Kickl, the FPO promised voters strict immigration controls, including “remigration of uninvited foreigners.” Opposing EU sanctions on Russia, the FPO pledged to halt contributions to the EU’s Ukraine weapons fund, advocating “an active policy of peace and neutrality.”
Kickl’s close ties with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban are notable, both being immigration hardliners opposed to military aid to Ukraine. The FPO, Orban’s Fidesz, and Czech party ANO formed a European Parliament alliance (“Patriots for Europe”) in June, aiming to become the largest right-wing faction.