Political poker in Austria: Nehammer resigns, what now?

Political poker in Austria: Nehammer resigns, what now?

A political drama in Austria: After months of negotiations, the government talks between the ÖVP, SPÖ and Neos are facing out. As 5min , the negotiations have recently failed, which resulted in the resignation of Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer. Nehammer, who is also a ÖVP boss, retired from both functions and temporarily handed over the lead to Christian Stocker. The negotiation stop comes as a surprise, since the ÖVP still advertised in the election campaign with Nehammer for a government formation without the FPÖ.

The problems escalated when the NEOS got out of the talks unexpectedly after they were notified too little reform by the other parties. As a result, only the ÖVP and the SPÖ, which have always had differences in economic policy and budget policy, remained. Nehammer confirmed that he was not available for collaboration with the FPÖ, led by Herbert Kickl. According to Tagesschau he explained in a video message: "Radicals offer no problem solutions." With this [the ÖVP is surprisingly positioning]

The way forward

Now Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen is on the train. Today he will receive FPÖ boss Kickl to clarify how things will go on. While the ÖVP still fought for a coalition with the SPÖ under Nehammer, Stocker is now signaling a possible cooperation with Kickl. This could continue to destabilize the political landscape in Austria, as the latest surveys show that the FPÖ predict a potential voices of about 35 percent in the next elections.