Negotiations between Austria's two main centrist parties to form a coalition government excluding the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) collapsed on Saturday, leading conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer to announce his resignation.
The liberal Neos party had withdrawn from talks a day earlier, accusing the other parties of failing to embrace the bold and decisive measures it advocated.
"I will stand down as chancellor and as leader of the People's Party in the coming days and enable an orderly transition," Nehammer said in a video statement on X, following discussions with the Social Democrats (SPO).
The collapse of these coalition talks, three months after the parliamentary election in September, highlights the increasing challenges of establishing stable governments in European nations like Germany and France, where the far right is gaining momentum, but many political groups resist partnering with them.
The eurosceptic and Russia-friendly FPO emerged victorious in the election with about 29% of the vote. However, it required a coalition partner to govern. Nehammer had ruled out a coalition with FPO leader Herbert Kickl, leaving the FPO without any viable partners.
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, a former Greens leader, had tasked Nehammer with forming a government. With Nehammer stepping down, the two main possibilities are that Kickl will be asked to form a government or that a snap election will be held.
Nehammer has criticized Kickl as being "too much of a conspiracy theorist to lead a government" but noted that many in the FPO are trustworthy. Despite this, Kickl's views align with those of Nehammer's People's Party (OVP) on issues such as immigration.
The OVP leadership planned to meet on Sunday to decide Nehammer's successor. The new leader is expected to be more open to a coalition with the FPO, a partnership favored by a significant portion of the OVP.
The two parties had previously governed together under OVP leadership from 2017 to 2019, when the FPO's former leader stepped down following a video scandal, causing that coalition to dissolve.
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