Austria's new three-party coalition: hope or criticism?

Austria's new three-party coalition: hope or criticism?

On March 3, 2025, the first three-party coalition in Austria was sworn in, consisting of the ÖVP, the SPÖ and the NEOS. This historic ceremony was carried out by Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen at 11:00 a.m. in the Federal Chancellery. After a total of 154 days after election day, Christian Stocker is sworn in as the new Federal Chancellor, succeeding Alexander Schallenberg. For the coalition, the party executives will vote on the government program and the list of ministers on Friday, with the NEOS also approving the coalition program on Sunday with an approval of 94.13 percent OTS reported.

Beate Meinl-Reisinger, the chairwoman of NEOS, emphasized after the approval of the coalition program: “The work begins”. Their credo: the new ministries and functions will be formative and will have a strong liberal and pro-European signature. Christoph Wiederkehr and Josef Schellhorn are also present in the ministerial ranks, with the latter taking on a new position as State Secretary for Deregulation. The ministerial team includes a total of 13 ministers and seven state secretaries, making it the largest government in Austria in years. At the same time, the FPÖ, led by Herbert Kickl, uses harsh criticism of the new government and describes it as a “business as usual – only worse” coalition ORF.

Discussion round about the new course