The federal president of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen, tasked this Monday the far-right Herbert Kickl, leader of the liberal party FPÖ, with the formation of a new government after the collapse of negotiations between conservatives, social democrats and liberals. “Mr Kickl has the confidence to find viable solutions within the framework of government negotiations, and he wants to take on this responsibility, which is why I tasked him with opening talks with the ÖVP on the formation of a federal government,” said Van der Bellen.
“I have not taken this step lightly, I will continue to ensure correct compliance and observance of the principles and norms of our Constitution,” added the president, who in the past had been against a government led by Kickl. It is the first time in the history of Austria that the far-right FPÖ, winner of the elections on September 29 with nearly 29% of the votes, has been tasked with forming a government.
“The ÖVP has reversed its categorical rejection of cooperation with Kickl. That is the new situation,” said Van der Bellen about the change of position announced on Sunday by the new conservative leader, Christian Stocker. He succeeded on Sunday the until now federal chancellor and conservative leader, Karl Nehammer, who had announced his resignation on Saturday after considering the negotiations for a tripartite government between the ÖVP and the social democratic party SPÖ and the liberal Neos to have failed.
Nehammer was against a coalition with the FPÖ under Kickl, whom he accuses of being a danger to the country’s security due to its xenophobic, pro-Russian and critical positions towards the European Union (EU).
However, Stocker, until now the party’s general secretary, announced on Sunday that the ÖVP is now willing to negotiate with the FPÖ about forming a coalition. The FPÖ had won the general elections at the end of September, with 28.8% of the votes, ahead of the ÖVP, with 26.3% of the ballots.
Faced with the apparent refusal of all political parties to cooperate with Kickl’s FPÖ, Van der Bellen entrusted the formation of the Government to the ÖVP, which together with the social democratic party SPÖ and the liberal NEOS tried to form a tripartite party. Kickl is a former Interior Minister (2017-2019) in a government led by former conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. In June 2021, he assumed the presidency of the FPÖ in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and radicalized the party’s tone and discourse.
He not only rejects the measures taken by the then conservative-ecologist government against the coronavirus, but also Western support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, the cooperation of neutral Austria with NATO, and is critical of the EU.
One of Kickl’s main allies is the Hungarian Prime Minister, the ultranationalist Viktor Orbán, with whom he formed the “Patriots for Europe” faction, the third group in the European Parliament. Furthermore, the FPÖ maintains close relations with the Alternative for Germany (AfD), in which there are elements that are being investigated by German Justice as right-wing extremists.
The FPÖ is a party founded after the Second World War by former Nazi leaders and to this day brings together the most extremist and right-wing circles in the country. The main leaders of the party, although not Kickl himself, are members of pan-German brotherhoods, where they were socialized in a nationalist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic environment.
While Kickl met with Van der Bellen, hundreds of people demonstrated today in front of the federal presidency, to express their rejection and discomfort with the possibility of the FPÖ leader assuming control of the next executive.
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