Austria. Herbert Kickel's chances of becoming chancellor are increasing, there will be a meeting with the president. The aftermath of Karl Nehammer's resignation and the failure of coalition talks

After the failure of negotiations to form a government coalition in Austria Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced on Saturday evening that he intended to resign from his position head of government and chairman of the conservative Austrian People's Party (OeVP). First, the liberals from NEOS withdrew from the talks, and the chances of forming a coalition were ultimately torpedoed by the social democrats from SPOe.

Nehammer emphasized that he was not ready for coalition talks with the right-wing, nationalist and pro-Russian Austrian Freedom Party (FPOe) led by Herbert Kickel. He argued that “radicals do not offer a solution to any problem.”

On Sunday, the country's president, Alexander Van der Bellen, met the outgoing chancellor. Shortly later, in a speech to the nation, he announced that he had invited Kickel to a meeting at 11 a.m. the next day.

– Now the situation has changed. Nehammer is gone. The voices in the Austrian People's Party that rule out cooperation with the FPOe led by Herbert Kickel have become much quieter. This, in turn, means that a new path may open that did not exist before, he said.

– If I have learned anything during my term as president, it is that new situations always arise, he said.

He added that the transitional chancellor will head the interim government next week. Until then, Nehammer will remain in office.

READ ALSO: Austrian far-right leader Herbert Kickl under investigation for corruption

He also explained why he did not entrust the mission of forming a government to a person other than Nehammer immediately after the liberal NEOS left the coalition negotiations on Friday.

– Even after NEOS left, I was convinced that there was still a chance of reaching an agreement. I wanted to spare our homeland 'empty runs'. But now it's over, said Van der Bellen.

He also assured that he would not make any hasty decisions. – Democracy is about fighting for solutions and making compromises. Without it, democracy could not function. Liberal democracy cannot exist without the rule of law, separation of powers, human rights and minorities, free and independent media and membership in the European Union. I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure that these fundamental pillars of our democracy are respected, he said.

Also on Sunday, the authorities of the conservative OeVP convened a crisis meeting in the building of the Federal Chancellery of Austria, during which they elected a temporary leader. The current secretary general was Christian Stocker.

He later admitted in a conversation with journalists that he expected that the far-right FPOe – which obtained the highest result in the autumn parliamentary elections – would now be tasked with forming a coalition.

– I welcome Van der Bellen's decision to meet Herbert Kick tomorrow, he said. – I expect that the leader of the party with the most votes will be tasked with forming the future government. If we are invited to these (coalition – ed.) talks, we will accept the invitation, he announced.

After the meeting, Nehammer went to the president's office. According to Reuters, he appeared there to report to Van der Bellen on the party leadership's talks.

According to Reuters, the most likely options for Austria are now: either early elections with constantly growing support for FPOe, or a “180-degree turn” and entrusting the chancellorship to Kickl.

“This is not an easy situation,” Markus Wallner, governor of Vorarlberg, the westernmost of Austria's nine states, told reporters ahead of a meeting of OeVP leadership at the chancellor's office.

“I believe we must now do everything in our power to avoid heading towards a national crisis,” he added. He stressed that he was against early elections because they would delay the formation of a new government by several months.

In the parliamentary elections held on September 29 last year, FPOe won with 28.8 percent. votes. In second place was the previously ruling OeVP (26.3%), followed by SPOe (21.1%), the liberal New Austria and Liberal Forum (NEOS; 9.2%) and the Greens (8.3%). percent). President Van der Bellen is associated with the latter formation.

Despite the victory of the libertarians, the head of state 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 winning party, Herbert Kickl. These groups accuse FPOe 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. During the campaign, her program focused on nationalist and anti-immigrant slogans.

Meanwhile, the ruling Christian Democratic Austrian People's Party (OeVP) argued that, together with Chancellor Nehammer, it was able to face numerous crises, as well as the growing inflationand promised to continue the current policy.

As Reuters notes, the views of the conservative, Christian Democrat OeVP and the nationalist FPOe overlap on various issues. The similarities concern a particularly tough approach to the issue of migration. The agency notes that in this context, the formations are similar to each other to such an extent that FPOe once accused OeVP of stealing its ideas.

These parties had already ruled together in the past – from the end of 2017 to 2019. Then video scandalin which the then FPOe leader and vice-chancellor were involved, led to the collapse of their coalition. In this video the politician allegedly offered state contracts to an alleged investor from Russia in exchange for help in the elections.

In the autumn election campaign, the opposition Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPOe) emphasized social issues, such as the fight against high prices, securing housing needs and equal rights for women and sexual minorities. New Austria and the Liberal Forum (NEOS) emphasized its attachment to the idea of ​​European integration and the federal model of the EU.