Coalition crisis: FPÖ and ÖVP at the end? Secret negotiations paused!

Coalition crisis: FPÖ and ÖVP at the end? Secret negotiations paused!

On Tuesday evening there was an unexpected bang effect: the coalition negotiations between the FPÖ and the ÖVP were "paused". This was done after a sharp exchange about the ministry layout. FPÖ boss Herbert Kickl had given the ÖVP a list with a proposal that brought negotiations to standstill. This list stipulated that the FPÖ insists on the two most powerful departments, the finance and interior ministry. In return, the FPÖ offered seven ministries for the ÖVP, but the ÖVP rejected the offer as "completely unacceptable". Christian Stocker, the chairman of the ÖVP, then called for the takeover of the ministries for finance, internal and foreign policy, including the EU agents, which led to further tensions. The ÖVP then immediately appealed to the party executive to discuss the explosive situation, such as Oe24.at reported.

In the middle of these tensions, Kickl tried to relax the situation with a quiet phone call with podium. Both sides confirmed the will to continue the negotiations. According to , an agreement is now being worked on, which provides for a possible distribution of the ministries: the FPÖ could take over the finance and the ÖVP of the Interior Ministry. In addition, an independent State Secretary for the constitutional protection and a Secretary of Finance could be deployed to the ministries. The negotiations are also to be continued on the following day, with both parties have signaled an interest in an agreement. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether you can finally bridge the differences in relation to the distribution of department.