Talks to form Austria’s first coalition government led by the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) collapsed on Wednesday, days after the FPO’s negotiations with the conservative People’s Party (OVP) ground to a halt, with each side blaming the other.
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The Eurosceptic, Russia-friendly FPO was bidding to head a government for the first time since it was founded in the 1950s under a leader who had been a prominent Nazi.
The FPO came first in September’s parliamentary election with around 29 per cent but was only tasked with forming a government last month once a centrist attempt to do so without it failed. The OVP was its only potential coalition partner.
“Just now, FPO leader … Herbert Kickl informed President Alexander Van der Bellen that the coalition talks with the OVP have failed,” the FPO said in a statement moments after Kickl met Van der Bellen in the president’s office.
The FPO quickly called for a snap election, which polls suggest would increase its lead over other parties, but the ball was now in Van der Bellen’s court.
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