Snap Austrian elections loom as chancellor resigns and coalition talks collapse

Austria's conservative chancellor says he will step down after talks to form a coalition excluding the leading far-right party broke down.

The surprise move has prompted his party to declare it is ready to negotiate with the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) that won national elections in September. 

Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on Saturday he would resign from the leadership in the "coming days" after breaking off coalition talks with the Social Democrats.

Mr Nehammer announced in a video message on X that he would step down "both as chancellor and party chairman of the People's Party (OVP) in the coming days and enable an orderly transition".

At a leadership meeting of the conservatives on Sunday, the OVP secretary-general Christian Stocker was chosen as interim party leader.

The development comes just one day after Austria's liberal party withdrew from three-party coalition talks to form a centrist government.

The aim had been to sideline the far-right FPO that led the September elections with 29 per cent of the vote but was unable to find partners to form a national government after Mr Nehammer ruled out governing with Eurosceptic FPO leader Herbert Kickl.

In an address to the nation, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen said he would meet Mr Kickl on Monday after attempts to form a coalition without the FPO fell apart.

"Voices within the [conservative] People's Party that rule out cooperation with an FPO under Herbert Kickl have become much quieter," he said.

"This in turn means that a new path may be opening up that did not exist before."

Far right rise across Europe

The coalition talks' collapse three months after September's parliamentary election underscores the growing difficulty of forming stable governments in European countries, such as Germany and France, where the far right is on the rise but many parties refuse to partner with them in governing. 

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, a former leader of the Greens, had tasked Mr Nehammer with forming a government after the FPO was unable to secure a coalition partner following the election. 

Now that Mr Nehammer is stepping down, Mr Kickl may be tasked with forming a government or a snap election could be called.

Mr Nehammer has described the far-right leader as too much of a conspiracy theorist to lead a government, yet has said much of the FPO is trustworthy.

The far-right party, which has previously been in government as a junior partner, is currently polling with 35 per cent of a national vote.

'Bulwark against radicals'

Mr Nehammer said on Saturday that he had wanted to be "the force of the political centre in order to build a bulwark against the radicals".

He "always stood for stability", he added — even if that was "not sexy in politics".

Mr Kickl in a statement called the parties involved in the coalition talks "losers", saying that "instead of stability, we have chaos" after three "wasted months".

The conservative People's Party came second with 26 per cent, while the centre-left Social Democrats (SPOe) gained 21 per cent in September.

That led Mr Nehammer to pursue talks with the centre-left and a fourth liberal party to form a government to shut out the far right, but discussions collapsed on Friday.

Wealth and inheritance taxes, pensions as well as different views on how to reign in the country's ballooning budget deficit have been cited as the main sticking points in the coalition talks.

Reuters/AFP