VIENNA (AFP) – Austria’s three-way coalition talks to form a new government collapsed after a liberal party announced its surprise withdrawal from the negotiations.
The shock exit by the liberals came after the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) emerged on top for the first time in national elections on September 29.
The party won 28.8 per cent of the vote but has been unable to find partners to form a national government. The conservative People’s Party (OeVP) came second with 26.3 per cent, while the centre-left Social Democrats (SPOe) won 21.1 per cent.
That led the outgoing conservative chancellor Karl Nehammer to pursue talks with the SPOe and the liberal party NEOS to form a government.
But in a hastily arranged press conference on Friday, NEOS head Beate Meinl-Reisinger said she had informed Austria’s President Alexander Van der Bellen that her party “will not continue the negotiations”, citing little progress on her party’s requested reforms.
