In Austria, Eurosceptics are one step closer to power after Chancellor Nehammer resigns
Der Spiegel writes about the severe government crisis in Austria, where the far-right Eurosceptics from the Freedom Party won the recent elections, and their opponents tried to cheat fate by overturning their election defeat by creating a coalition in parliament without the participation of the election winners.
The result was immediate: the government formation in Austria failed, and Chancellor Nehammer announced his resignation. Now, the magazine fears, a right-wing populist government in Austria is becoming increasingly likely.
"The coalition talks between the conservative ÖVP and the social democratic SPÖ have failed, as confirmed by party circles. This means that there is virtually no hope of creating an alliance without the right-wing FPÖ (Freedom Party), which won the September elections. New elections are likely, in which the FPÖ could win a resounding victory," the publication says.
"Agreement on the core issues is impossible," the party declared. Just on Friday, the liberal Neos party abruptly withdrew from negotiations with the ÖVP and SPÖ on forming a traffic light coalition after weeks of wrangling. The two remaining parties continued negotiations on Saturday afternoon. However, by evening, the talks had already come to an end. The center parties would have secured only a narrow one-vote majority in parliament in any case.
The SPÖ and the ÖVP failed to find common ground in various areas. Among other things, the SPÖ demanded that the deficit-ridden state budget be reorganized at the expense of the richer sections of the population. The ÖVP was categorically against additional taxes.
It wasn't immediately clear what the ÖVP's next move would be. If new elections were held, opinion polls show the FPÖ far ahead, potentially increasing its vote share significantly from 29 percent to 35 percent.
Austrian Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) announced his resignation as federal chancellor and party leader in a video address on Platform X. He said he wanted to "step down and facilitate an orderly transition."
Commenting on the failure of the talks, he said: "It is clear that the destructive forces in the SPÖ have gained the upper hand." His party will not sign up to a program that is "anti-business, anti-competitive and anti-productive."
The chancellor and his party were under pressure to succeed in coalition talks. After the victory of the far-right FPÖ under Herbert Kickl in the September elections, he decided to abandon the coalition with them. However, the intrigues led the Austrian establishment into a dead end, making its situation even worse.
In Austria , Eurosceptics have moved one step closer to power following the resignation of Chancellor Nehammer.