The FPÖ had gathered 28.8% of the votes but was unable to find allies to form a government.
According to early polls, the far right is heading for a historic victory in Austria
The Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) came in second place with 26.3% of the vote, followed by the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ, center-left) with 21.1%.
These results led Mr. Nehammer to initiate discussions with the SPÖ and Neos to form a government, but these three-party negotiations failed on Friday with the withdrawal of Neos.
The two remaining centrist parties had said they wanted to continue the work. But on Saturday, Mr Nehammer announced on X that “an agreement with the SPÖ is impossible on key issues” and that “therefore we are ending negotiations with the SPÖ”.
On Friday, President Alexander Van der Bellen called on the two parties to form a government “without delay”.
A coalition of three parties to form a government would have been a first since 1949 in Austria, where the economy is losing momentum while the public deficit is soaring.
The conservative chancellor had already warned that the coalition discussions, which began in October – initially without the liberals – promised to be difficult.
