Austria faces a historic decision: traffic light coalition in crisis!

Austria faces a historic decision: traffic light coalition in crisis!

Austria is at a crossroads: Will the country get the first traffic light government in its history or are the coalition negotiations between ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS in danger of failing? How Today reports, the parties decided before Christmas whether they wanted to work together. An initial interim assessment of the negotiations is scheduled for December 12th, and the negotiating groups should meet at least once. However, the central question remains the financial situation: The SPÖ is demanding a wealth tax as a condition for its participation in government, which is met with strong resistance from ÖVP leader Karl Nehammer. He threatened to quickly break off the negotiations if the SPÖ stuck to its demands.

Drastic announcements about the budget situation

The current budget situation is tense, as the SPÖ has publicly announced. SPÖ finance spokesman Kai Jan Krainer explained that the budget was “defacto broken” and that he saw a “mammoth task” facing the parties. These words were supported by SPÖ leader Andreas Babler, who pointed out the need for higher taxes for the wealthy. The budget restructuring must take place on both the expenditure side and the income side. In contrast, ÖVP Economic Association chairman Harald Mahrer ruled out new taxes, while NEOS boss Beate Meinl-Reisinger was more flexible and explained that a solution should be found primarily through spending, like ORF reported.

The discussions mainly take place in the Palais Epstein and in Parliament. A core steering group consisting of party leaders Nehammer, Babler and Meinl-Reisinger will lead the negotiation process. Around 300 members are active in various groups that negotiate key issues such as the economy, education and climate. The environmental organization Greenpeace symbolically handed over globes to the parties to underline the importance of climate protection in the negotiations.