Austria's conservative People's Party (ÖVP) on Thursday announced a government coalition with two centrist parties that excludes the far right, which came first in elections in September.
With the Alpine EU member without a government for the longest stretch in its modern history, the deal caps months of negotiations after the Freedom Party (FPÖ)'s historic election win, when it gained almost a third of votes.
Negotiations between the FPÖ and ÖVP – which came second in September – on Austria's first far right-led government broke down this month. After the collapse, the ÖVP the Social Democrats (SPOÖ – who placed third – and the liberals resumed coalition talks after their first attempt at forming a government failed in January.
ÖVP leader Christian Stocker on Thursday presented the government program entitled "Do the right thing now. For Austria," together with the two other parties.
"We have just completed perhaps the most difficult government negotiations in the history of our country," Stocker told reporters. President Alexander Van der Bellen had called on party leaders to quickly compromise. The three-party governing coalition is Austria's first since 1949.
Migration measures
The new government will strengthen integration, make all those who get asylum sign a declaration that they are against anti-Semitism and work out a "constitutional legal ban on headscarves," according to its programme. It also plans to temporarily suspend family reunification "with immediate effect" for asylum seekers, Stocker said. The programme also emphasised that the government was "committed to a strong and better European Union."
Stocker took over the ÖVP leadership this year to replace former chancellor Karl Nehammer after the first round of three-way coalition talks failed. The 64-year-old lawyer and lawmaker since 2019, who is a fly fishing enthusiast, became ÖVP general secretary in 2022.
Political analyst Thomas Hofer said the three-way coalition was expected to "remain predictable and will not cause any major waves."
"But the parties are facing huge problems, including their popularity ratings," he told AFP. FPÖ radical leader Herbert Kickl, who has repeatedly called for swift new elections, is "banking on those popularity ratings" dropping further.
The FPÖ tops current opinion polls with more than 33%, up from the almost 29% they gained in September, while the ÖVP has slumped to under 19% in voter opinion surveys, compared to the more than 26 percent they got in September.
The ÖVP – which has ruled the country of nine million since 1987 – has already governed several times with the SPÖ in what is known as a grand coalition.