The Austrian president asked far-right leader Herbert Kickl on Monday to find a majority to govern, a first in the history of the Alpine country, after the failure of negotiations by other political forces.
In view of “the new situation (…), I instructed” Herbert Kickl, whose party came first in the legislative elections at the end of September with nearly 29% of the votes, “to lead discussions with the conservatives”, declared environmentalist head of state Alexander Van der Bellen.
He spoke after a meeting of just over an hour with the far-right leader, adding that it had “not been easy to make” such a decision.
If the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) has already participated in power as a minority partner, it has never held the chancellery in this member state of the European Union of nine million inhabitants.
“Senile mummy”
Before the vote, Alexander Van der Bellen did not hide his reluctance towards Herbert Kickl, who in the past called him a “senile mummy”. And the octogenarian head of state preferred in October to choose the outgoing conservative chancellor Karl Nehammer to lead the negotiations, contrary to custom which normally reserves this right to the winning party.
But the failure of negotiations with the social democrats and liberals, followed by the announced resignation of Karl Nehammer, a fierce opponent of Herbert Kickl, changed the situation, in a spectacular rebound against a backdrop of the rise of nationalist forces in Europe.
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>> Reread: Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer announces his upcoming resignation
New interim Conservative leader Christian Stocker has said he is open to talks with the far right, with both parties sharing close positions on the economy and immigration.
>> Also read: In Austria, conservatives ready to negotiate with the far right to form a government
Alliance in 2000 and 2017
Austrian conservatives have already allied themselves twice with the FPÖ, in 2000 and in 2017, in a country which broke the taboo of the far right well before the rest of Europe.
The far right also currently participates in four of the nine regional governments.
“The voices within the ÖVP which ruled out working with (…) Herbert Kickl have become much more discreet,” the president commented on Sunday.
Entrusting the FPÖ with the task of leading negotiations is heavy with symbolism: it is a first since 1945 for this formation founded by former Nazis and led by a man who wants to be called Volkskanzler, the “people’s chancellor” – like Adolf Hitler, born in Austria, even if he denies any Nazi references.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered Monday in front of the Hofburg Palace, the seat of the presidency, shouting “Nazis out.”
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