Austria's president says he will meet the leader of the country's far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) amid speculation that a pro-Kremlin, anti-Islam party will be tasked with forming a government after centrist parties failed to reach an agreement. did.
The Alpine country of 9 million people is mired in political crisis after coalition talks aimed at removing far-right factions from the government collapsed. On Sunday, the FPÖ, which narrowly became the party with the most votes in September's parliamentary elections, appeared most likely to benefit from the turmoil.
It was a turn in fortunes for the Austrian People's Party, which had appeared to be pushed out of power after mainstream parties, including the Austrian People's Party, refused to support the government led by leader Herbert Kickle during elections, as usual. It will be. He peppered his speeches with Nazi rhetoric and railed against immigrants with slogans such as “Fortress Austria” and “Austria First” and was previously ousted as the hardline interior minister.
Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen said on Sunday that after several hours of talks with officials, he got the impression that “the voices within the People's Party that rule out cooperation with leader Herbert Kickle's Freedom Party have become quieter.” said.
The development means “new avenues may be opening up that didn't exist before,” he said, adding that he plans to meet with Kickle on Monday morning.
Kikl cited Hungary's authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán as a model and previously said his party would only join the government if he became prime minister.
He has long been controversial and campaigned on the slogan of becoming a “Volkskanzler” (People's Chancellor), a term once used for Adolf Hitler.
The FPÖ, founded in the 1950s and first led by a former SS official and Nazi lawmaker, has promoted the idea of ”remigration”, or deportation, of immigrants and foreign-born nationals. He also called for Western support for Russia's defense of Ukraine and for an end to EU sanctions against Russia.
In the latest election program entitled “Austrian Fortress”, He called on Austria to become a more “homogeneous” nation through tightly controlled borders and the suspension of asylum rights through emergency legislation.
The country's Prime Minister Karl Nehamaa has long maintained that his center-right People's Party (ÖVP) would not support a government with Kickle as prime minister, describing him as a security risk and a conspiracy theorist. I was doing it.
Nehamaa has announced his resignation after talks between his party and the centre-left Social Democratic Party failed, potentially paving the way for Nehamaa to form a coalition with the FPÖ under new leadership. The two parties agree on a range of issues, including a hard line on immigration, and the FPÖ has accused the ÖVP of stealing its ideas.
The ÖVP has ruled with the FPÖ as a junior partner on several occasions and continues to govern five of Austria's nine cantons, but this latest alliance will likely force the conservatives into a more junior role. It will be.
The FPÖ appeared to confirm this on Sunday. “Austria needs Chancellor Kickl now,” the far-right party wrote on social media.
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The ÖVP announced on Sunday that it had appointed general secretary Christian Stocker as interim leader following Nehammer's resignation. The country's president said Nehama would remain prime minister for the time being.
Speaking to reporters shortly afterwards, Stocker, who had previously described Kickl as a “security risk” to Austria, said his party was preparing to enter coalition talks with the far-right.
“I expect that the party leader who receives the most votes will be tasked with forming a future government. If we are invited to these (coalition) talks, we will accept this invitation. '' Stocker said.
Stocker said Sunday that his party supported his participation in negotiations.
“So this is not about Herbert Kickle or me, but about the fact that this country needs a stable government now and we cannot continue to waste time campaigning and elections,” he said. said.
