Austria. Herbert Kickl, leader of the far-right and pro-Russian Freedom Party of Austria, is to form a government

In a televised statement, the president said that he had commissioned the leader of the Freedom Party Austria (FPOe), which won the autumn parliamentary elections, formed a government. The chairman of the FPOe is Herbert Kickl, former Minister of the Interior.

– One of the most important constitutional tasks of the president is to provide the country with a functioning federal government, said Alexander Van der Bellen. He justified the decision to entrust this mission to Kickel with the emergence of new circumstances on the Austrian political scene.

– Previously, the leaders (of the other groups – ed.) categorically ruled out cooperation with Kickel. Karl Nehammer (current Chancellor of Austria and former leader of OeVP -ed.) tried to create a three-party coalition with SPOe and NEOS. As is known, these negotiations ended in failure. Nehammer announced his resignation and the OeVP withdrew its opposition to Kickel. This is a new situation, explained the head of state.

Van der Bellen he emphasized that Monday's meeting was aimed at determining whether, under the new circumstances, there is a real chance of establishing a majority government. – My constitutional task is to examine the possibility of forming a government with a share exceeding 50 percent – said the president, who emphasized on this occasion that various scenarios had been discussed during the conversation with Kickel.

The head of the FPOe allegedly assured Van der Bellen that he was confident that he would be able to create a functioning cabinet, which is why the president entrusted him with the task of forming a new federal government together with the OeVP. – Respect for the votes (of citizens – ed.) requires that the will of the voters be reflected in the shape of the government – explained the head of state.

Earlier, after the meeting at the Hofburg Palace, Kickl left the building without greeting the journalists and without commenting on the conversation in any way. At the same time, he informed that he did not plan to make any statement to the media at this stage. Later asked by ORF television reporters whether it was a good conversation, he replied: – It's always good to talk to him (the president – ed.).

Herbert Kickl has been the chairman of FPOe since 2021. Due to his pro-Russian views and nationalist declarations after the parliamentary elections in September last year, the leaders of all other parties categorically opposed entering into a coalition with FPOe if the head of this party were to become the new chancellor.

After the failure of negotiations to form a government coalition without the FPOe, the Chancellor Nehammer announced on Saturday evening that he would resign as head of government and chairman of the conservative OeVP. Earlier in the day, the Chancellor's party made one last attempt at coalition talks with the Social Democrats.

In the parliamentary elections held on September 29 last year, the nationalist and pro-Russian FPOe won with 28.8 percent of the votes. In second place was the ruling OeVP (26.3 percent), followed by SPOe (21.1 percent), the liberal NEOS (New Austria and Liberal Forum; 9.2 percent) and the Greens (8.3 percent).

Despite the victory of the libertarians, President Van der Bellen entrusted the mission of creating a new government to the current chancellor, Nehammer. He explained this decision by the fact that the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats had definitely ruled out joining the cabinet headed by the leader of the FPOe. These groups accuse this party of extremism and close ties with Russiathe desire to limit the role of women in public life or the use of language that deepens social divisions – argued Van der Bellen.