After five weeks of negotiations with the conservatives, Herbert Kickl, leader of the Austrian far right, eventually announced on Wednesday, February 12, that he was throwing in the towel. "Despite intensive efforts, it was not possible to reach an agreement," the leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) said as he handed back his mandate to the Austrian president, the ecologist Alexander Van der Bellen. Van der Bellen will now have to find a way out of the political stalemate that has plagued the country since the parliamentary elections of September 2024. Although he came out on top in this election with almost 29% following a campaign on a very radical line, Kickl, 56, has since been unable to convince other formations to form a coalition to enable him to become chancellor.

The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP, conservatives), which came second with 26% of the vote, blamed Kickl's thirst for power and intransigence for the failure of the talks on Wednesday. "[He] certainly came first in the elections, but that doesn't justify his controlling all the power," ÖVP leader Christian Stocker said on Wednesday, blaming the FPÖ in particular for its desire to get its hands on the Interior Ministry.

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