Austria's Freedom Party (FPO) has terminated coalition discussions with the conservative People's Party (OVP) aimed at establishing the first far-right government. The talks, initiated in January following the FPO’s success in September polls, faltered over the FPO's demand for control of key ministries like finance and the interior. The OVP criticized Herbert Kickl's leadership approach and reluctance to compromise. With negotiations failing, named issues on migration, EU policy, and asylum suggest the possibility of snap elections, as the FPO remains polling strongly above its rivals.
Although we made concessions to the OVP on many points, we regret that the negotiations were ultimately unsuccessful, Kickl said in a statement on Wednesday.
Had they been successful, the far right would have led the Alpine EU nation's government for the first time, though it has previously been in power as a junior coalition partner.
The FPO, in turn, rejected that proposal as fraught with numerous constitutional problems and doomed to failure.
The OVP wanted the FPO, which has criticised EU sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, to clarify its position on Moscow.
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