Austria took a step this Monday towards its first government led by the far right upon receiving the leader of the liberal party FPÖ, Herbert Kicklthe task of forming an executive, three months after having won the general elections and after the failure of conservatives, social democrats and liberals in forming a tripartite coalition.
The Austrian federal president, the progressive Alexander Van der Bellen – until now very reluctant – announced after a meeting with Kickl that he has entrusted him with the formation of the Government with the popular party ÖVP.
“I have not taken this step lightly, I will continue to ensure correct compliance and observance of the principles and standards of our Constitution“said the federal president.
Election winner
Last September the FPÖ won the general elections with 28.8% of the votes, ahead of the ruler ÖVPwith 26.3%, who had won the 2019 elections with 37.5%.
During the election campaign all political parties, not only the ÖVP but also the social democratic SPÖ, the environmentalists Greens and the liberals neoshad categorically refused to cooperate with the FPÖ under Kickl.
Faced with this situation, Van der Bellen commissioned the ÖVP and its then leader and acting federal chancellor after the September elections, Karl Nehammerthe formation of a tripartite governmentwithout the FPÖ but with the SPÖ and the Neos.
Collapse of the tripartite
Last Friday the liberals announced that they were abandoning negotiations due to the alleged inability of ÖVP and SPÖ to initiate the necessary reforms.
Austria, one of the richest countries in Europe, faces a tough budget consolidation, valued at between 18,000 and 24,000 million euroswhile its economy has been in recession for two years.
Last Saturday night Nehammer announced the end of negotiations with the SPÖ and his resignation as head of government and leader of his party.
Both conservatives and liberals accused the Social Democrats of being responsible for the split for their alleged intransigence in demanding taxes on large fortunes and inheritances, and blocking savings in the pension system and in civil servants’ salaries.
180 degree turn
Less than 24 hours later, the ÖVP had already elected a new interim leader, the party’s hitherto general secretary, Christian Stockerwho ended his party’s refusal to negotiate with Kickl.
Nehammer was against a coalition with the FPÖ under Kickl, whom he accused of being a danger to the country’s security due to its positions. xenophobic, pro-russian and criticism of the European Union (EU).
Kickl, Minister of the Interior (2017-2019) in a government led by the ÖVP that ended up being blown up due to a major corruption scandal among the far-right, assumed the leadership of the FPÖ in 2021, in the middle of the pandemic.
Not only does he defend conspiracy theories about the coronavirusbut rejects support for Ukraine and the western sanctions against Russia, in addition to the cooperation of the neutral Austria with the NATO.
ally of extremists
Kickl is critical of the EU, whose powers he wants to reduce to a minimum. In fact, one of his main allies is the Hungarian prime minister, the ultranationalist Victor Orbánwith which he formed the fraction Patriots for Europethe third group in the European Parliament.
Kickl is also an ally of the extremist party Alternative for Germany (Afd) and the Italian ultra leader and current deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini.
The FPÖ is a party founded after the Second World War by former Nazi leaders and to this day it brings together the most extremist and right-wing circles in the country.
The main leaders of the FPÖ – although not Kickl himself – are members of Pan-Germanic brotherhoodswhere they socialized in an environment ultranationalist, xenophobic and antisemitic.
While Kickl met with Van der Bellen, hundreds of people demonstrated this Monday in front of the federal presidency, to express their rejection of the FPÖ leader assuming control of the next executive.
Agreement or new elections
Local analysts today considered that the negotiations between FPÖ and ÖVP will be more fluid than the failed tripartite ones, although they do not rule out new elections either.
Although both parties agree a lot on economic issues, there are large discrepancies in foreign and security policyand on how to consolidate public accounts.
The FPÖ is today the main working class partyso he does not want to consolidate the budget at the expense of his electorate, analysts say.
On the other hand, the far-right reject Austrian participation in SkyShielda NATO anti-missile shield to protect Europe against possible aggression. However, for the ÖVP this initiative is vital to guarantee the country’s geostrategic security.
On the other hand, conservatives consider themselves the most pro-European party in the country and defender of press freedom, which confronts them with the Eurocritical positions of Kickl, who wants to reform the public radio television ORF, an entity historically critical of the FPÖ, to suit him.
A failure of the negotiations would lead to new electionswhich the FPÖ does not fear, since the latest polls give it up to 35% of voting intention, while the ÖVP would plummet to 20%.
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