In Austria, the centre-right, social democrats and liberals tried to build a government without the extreme right. On Friday, the liberals hit the counter.
The ongoing government negotiations in Austria have failed. The matter was reported by, among others, the leader of Austria the newspaper Der Standard.
The center-right ÖVP, the social democratic SPÖ and the liberal party Neos (Das Neue Österreich und Liberales Forum) have been negotiating government cooperation since the September elections.
In the parliamentary elections, the extreme right-wing FPÖ, i.e. the Freedom Party of Austria, emerged as the winner with about 29 percent of the vote.
The party has attracted wide attention across Europe with its pro-Russia policies and the chairman Herbert Kicklin with references to the party’s Nazi past.
The ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS tried to join forces to prevent the FPÖ from coming to power.
On Friday, the chairman of Neos Beate Meinl-Reisinger however, announced that the government negotiations are deadlocked and the liberals are leaving the game unfinished.
– Opposing the FPÖ is not enough of a reason for us to participate in the government if we cannot advance essential reforms, Meinl-Reisinger said.
According to Neos, the center-right and the Social Democrats were not ready to raise the retirement age. In addition, Neos would have liked to lighten taxation and reform the political decision-making related to the ORF public radio company.
Neos has not been in a board position before.
ÖVP and SPÖ would create a weak government
The traditional ruling parties ÖVP and SPÖ could form a government alone. However, this government would only have a majority of one MP in the parliament, which means that it would not necessarily be able to survive even the least contentious votes.
However, the ruling parties intend to continue government negotiations. The parties’ disagreements are related, among other things, to taxation, which the ÖVP has not agreed to increase.
ÖVP and the party’s chancellor Karl Nehammer have been in the government together with the Austrian Green Party since 2020. However, the Greens suffered such a big defeat in the September elections that the ÖVP now needs a new member of the government.
While the ruling parties have been arguing about a new government, the opinion polls of the far-right FPÖ have only increased, The Guardian reports.