“Now it’s up to the FPÖ to pull the cart out of the mud”

Things went haywire in Austrian domestic politics. On Friday morning, NEOS boss Beate Meinl-Reisinger announced her withdrawal from government negotiations with the ÖVP and SPÖ. On Saturday, the ÖVP finally broke off the talks and Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) announced his withdrawal. The interim ÖVP party leader Christian Stocker then signaled on Sunday that his party was available for government negotiations with the election winner, the FPÖ and its leader Herbert Kickl. On Monday, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen commissioned Kickl to lead the coalition negotiations. There are many indications of an FPÖ-ÖVP government under Chancellor Kickl.

“It turned out as I suspected from the beginning. The other constellation could not work out, too much separates the ÖVP and SPÖ. I assume that the negotiations will now come to a conclusion,” said Schärding’s FPÖ deputy mayor Stefan Schneebauer in conversation with OÖN on Monday afternoon. Schneebauer described Van der Bellen’s behavior after the election as “very questionable, almost anti-democratic.” Now it’s up to the FPÖ to “pull the cart out of the mud.” “It is catastrophic what the previous government left us economically. The economy needs to be stimulated and the workers should be relieved,” said Schneebauer.

“}”>