Austrian coalition talks led by Freedom Party fail

VIENNA - Efforts to form a coalition government in Austria collapsed on Wednesday after negotiations between the far-right Freedom Party and the conservative People's Party broke down.

The Freedom Party had been in talks with the People's Party since January, aiming to establish Austria's first government led by the far-right.

In the Austrian parliamentary elections last September, the Freedom Party emerged as the leading party with approximately 29 percent of the vote, followed by the People's Party with 26.3 percent and the Social Democratic Party with 21.1 percent. The liberal NEOS party secured fourth place.

On Wednesday, Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl announced in a press release that he had returned the mandate to form a government to President Alexander Van der Bellen. Kickl attributed the failure of the coalition talks to the People's Party, stating that his party had made significant concessions during negotiations.

However, People's Party leader Christian Stocker placed the blame on the Freedom Party, telling Austrian news agency APA that "it became clear during the talks that no agreement could be reached on the core principles the People's Party had established before negotiations began."

Following the September elections, the Freedom Party was initially excluded from coalition discussions by all major parties. As a result, Van der Bellen first tasked the People's Party with forming a new government in October.

However, three-party coalition talks involving the People's Party, the Social Democratic Party, and the NEOS party collapsed in early January. Subsequent two-party negotiations between the People's Party and the Social Democrats also failed. In mid-January, Van der Bellen granted Kickl the mandate to form a government.

Van der Bellen said on Wednesday night that he would hold talks with leaders of political parties in the coming days on the formation of a new government.

The Austrian president laid out four options for the way forward: a snap election; a minority government; a temporary government of experts; or new attempts to form a majority coalition government. He also called for compromises from all sides.

Kickl, however, on Wednesday night said he had advised Van der Bellen to quickly call a new election.

APA reported that leaders of the Social Democratic Party, the NEOS party and the Greens have shown openness to new coalition talks.