Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen announced that he will meet today with the leader of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), Herbert Kickl, following the failed attempt to form a coalition without the FPO and the resignation of Chancellor Karl Nehammer.
“Voices within the conservative People’s Party (OVP) that oppose cooperation with the FPO under Herbert Kickl have become much quieter. This, in turn, means that a new path may be opening up, one that did not previously exist,” Van der Bellen stated in a national address.
The new leader of Austria’s conservatives, Christian Stocker, said yesterday that he expects the far-right FPO, which came first in the September parliamentary elections, to be tasked with forming a government after talks to establish a centrist coalition broke down.
“I expect the leader of the party with the most votes to be given the task of forming the future government. If we are invited to these coalition talks, we will accept that invitation,” Stocker told reporters shortly after being elected leader of the OVP.
