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Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced his resignation after months of efforts to form a centrist coalition that excluded the far right failed.
The country faces the possibility of new elections after failing to form a government without the anti-immigrant, pro-Russian Freedom Party (FPÖ), which secured a historic finish in first place in the national vote in September.
Nehammer, who also announced he would step down as leader of the moderate conservative People’s Party (ÖVP), was tasked by the country’s president to try to form a coalition after all other parties in parliament rejected the possibility of working with hardline FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl. .
The 52-year-old, who has been chancellor since 2021 when his predecessor Sebastian Kurz he withdrew amid a corruption investigation, tried to reach an agreement with the Social Democrats and the small, liberal Neos party.
But on Friday, Neos abruptly withdrew from the negotiations, and on Saturday, Nehammer announced that he was giving up his efforts to form a government.
“Unfortunately, I have to tell you today that the negotiations have ended and that the People’s Party will not continue them,” he said in a video statement on the X social media platform.
“I will step down as chancellor and leader of the People’s Party in the coming days and enable an orderly transition.”
Nehammer said that “destructive forces” in the Social Democratic Party “prevailed” in the negotiations and that his party was unwilling to sign its proposed economic program.
Social Democrat leader Andreas Babler said he regretted the ÖVP’s decision to end negotiations, adding that his party was ready to compromise. “This is not a good decision for our country,” he said.
The failure of the talks deepens Austria’s political uncertainty at a time when its economy is at risk of falling for a third straight year in 2025. The country also faces the challenge of budget cuts of between 18 and 24 billion euros, according to figures from the EU Commission.
One option is new elections, but that could risk further strengthening the Freedom Party, with polls showing the far-right party has gained support since the September vote, when it won 29 percent.
The ÖVP must also begin a search for a new leader, with officials expected to meet on Sunday to discuss the process.
Austrian political analysts had already speculated on Saturday that Kurz might try to retake the leadership of the ÖVP, after a biographer of the former chancellor suggested in an article published in the German newspaper Bild that people close to him were weighing the chances of a political comeback.
While Nehammer has always ruled out working with far-right leader Kickl, who has taken the Freedom Party further to the right since taking the helm in 2021, Babler warned of the danger that his successor as leader of the conservative party could be ready to make a deal with him.
“We know what is threatening to happen now. An FPÖ-ÖVP government with a right-wing extremist chancellor that will threaten our democracy on many points,” he said.
Additional reporting by Sam Jones
