Coalition talks in Austria

tagesschau Coalition talks in Austria ÖVP and SPÖ try again Status: February 17, 2025 5:38 p.m. After the failed talks between the ÖVP and the right-wing FPÖ, the conservatives are now talking again with the Social Democrats about a government. In January, both parties were unable to agree on a coalition. In Austria, the conservative ÖVP and the social democratic SPÖ have resumed talks about a possible coalition. "Discussions are underway about whether cooperation and the conclusion of a government agreement are possible or not," said the ÖVP. The SPÖ also confirmed the exchange. A first attempt at a coalition between the ÖVP and SPÖ failed in January. After that, weeks of talks took place between the FPÖ, which is partly right-wing extremist, and the ÖVP - but these collapsed last Wednesday. This means that Austria is still without a new government four and a half months after the parliamentary elections.Agreement next week?It is not clear when the results of the talks between the ÖVP and SPÖ can be expected. However, the media speculated that the new government could be in place by the time of the two National Council meetings on Wednesday and Thursday next week (February 26/27). The parties made no statement on this.The Vienna SPÖ regional party leader and mayor Michael Ludwig spoke out in favor of concluding the negotiations as quickly as possible, reports the ORF. "It is important that the two parties find common ground." Like many people in Austria, he is happy that there is no Federal Chancellor Herbert Kickl. The FPÖ politician Kickl is considered to be a representative of the extreme right wing of his party.The ÖVP and SPÖ only have a majority of one vote in parliament. However, both the Greens and the liberal NEOS indicated that they could support such a two-party coalition in parliament on certain issues. EU deficit procedure threatens Austria is in a serious economic crisis with rising unemployment and a large budget hole. Without an early agreement on a budget characterized by savings targets, an EU deficit procedure threatens.Right-wing parties become the strongest forceThe FPÖ became the strongest force in the Austrian parliament for the first time in the parliamentary elections in September with 28.85 percent of the vote. However, none of the other major parties were initially prepared to form a coalition with it. After coalition talks between the ÖVP, the SPÖ and the liberal NEOS about a three-way alliance failed, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen commissioned FPÖ leader Kickl, an ultra-right politician, to form a government for the first time at the beginning of January. However, Kickl returned the mandate to form a government on Wednesday after the talks failed. One point of contention was the distribution of departments.