Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen has asked the leader of the country's far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) to form a new ruling coalition in what could yield the first far-right-led government in Austria since World War Two.
The meeting, aimed at countering the FPÖ by cobbling together a centrist coalition of the Social Democrats and liberals, was ultimately unsuccessful and left Van der Bellen with few options.
But those attempts failed after Nehammer’s conservative Austrian People’s Party, along with other parties, refused to work with the far-right FPÖ.
During Austria’s parliamentary elections in September, the FPÖ won an unprecedented 28.8% of the vote and came out on top.
Opinion polls suggest that if an election were held now, support for the far-right party would be even stronger.
Persons:
Alexander Van der Bellen, Herbert Kickl “, ” Van der Bellen, Karl Nehammer, cobbling, Van der
Organizations:
Social Democrats, Austrian People’s Party
Locations:
Austria, Vienna, Austrian, Russia