Compromise in sight: traffic light coalition could become a reality!

Compromise in sight: traffic light coalition could become a reality!

Austria's political landscape stirring hard! After the failed coalition attempt between the ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS at the beginning of the year there is new hope for a traffic light coalition! Rumors about a new offer from the ÖVP and SPÖ to Neos boss Beate Meinl-Reisinger caused excitement on February 21, 2025. Intensive discussions have taken place in the past few days, but there was no breakthrough until Friday evening, as information about the continuation of the talks on Saturday, February 22nd. There was no appointment in the Hofburg on Friday, which put the patience of Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen to the test - a sign of growing resentment about the delays.

urgent discussions in the Hofburg

On Saturday, the party leaders Christian Stocker (ÖVP), Andreas Babler (SPÖ) and Beate Meinl-Reisinger (Neos) sat down to inform with van der Bellen about the developments. As expected, a meeting took place in the Hofburg at 1 p.m., followed by a press conference at 2 p.m. In a joint statement, the three parties were ready to develop a government program and the NEOS announced that they wanted to make valuable contributions to cooperation. Van der Bellen praised the willingness to compromise and emphasized that it was the key to a stable government that Austria should advance, such as 5min.at reported.

The negotiations continue to be challenging, because the distribution of department is still in river. According to the “standard”, the Ministry of Justice is expected to go to the SPÖ. Van der Bellen's words that compromises represent the foundation of every democracy were admitted to all parties as serious. The participants seem to agree that it is time to lead the country through a stable government that relies on solutions instead of leaving the party political division. "There is a common basis for a solution -oriented government," said Christian Stocker. Andreas Babler also called it important to put the interests of state and citizens in the foreground, such as Exxpress.at reported.