Far-right excluded from new Austrian government formed after 5-month hiatus

Austria's conservative People's Party (OeVP) has announced a government coalition with two centrist parties that excludes the far right, which came first in elections in September.

With the Alpine EU member without a government for the longest stretch in its modern history, the deal caps months of negotiations after the Freedom Party's (FPOe) historic election win, when it gained almost a third of votes.

Negotiations between the FPOe and OeVP - which came second in September - on Austria's first far right-led government broke down this month.

After the collapse, the OeVP, the Social Democrats (SPOe) - who came third - and the liberal NEOS party resumed coalition talks after their first attempt at forming a government failed in January.

OeVP leader Christian Stocker on Thursday presented the 211-page joint government program entitled 'Do the right thing now. For Austria,' together with the two other parties.

"We have just completed perhaps the most difficult government negotiations in the history of our country," Stocker said.

President Alexander Van der Bellen had called on party leaders to quickly compromise.

The three-party governing coalition is Austria's first since 1949. The new government will hope to fare better than neighbors Germany's three-way so-called 'traffic light' coalition which collapsed after less than three years last November, leading to the far-right AfD party doubling its support.

Migration measures

The new government will strengthen integration, make all those who get asylum sign a declaration that they are against anti-Semitism and work out a "constitutional legal ban on headscarves", according to its program.

In addition, it plans to temporarily suspend family reunification "with immediate effect" for asylum seekers, Stocker said.

The program emphasized that the government was "committed to a strong and better European Union".

It also seeks a formal end to Türkiye's EU accession talks and make it a crime to spread Islamist propaganda.

The document pledged to achieve savings of more than 6.3 billion euros ($6.6 bn) this year and 8.7 billion euros ($9.1 bn) next year.

Stocker took over the OeVP leadership this year to replace former chancellor Karl Nehammer after the first round of three-way coalition talks failed.

The 64-year-old lawyer and lawmaker since 2019, who is a fly-fishing enthusiast, became OeVP general secretary in 2022.

'Predictable'

Political analyst Thomas Hofer said the three-way coalition was expected to "remain predictable and will not cause any major waves."

"But the parties are facing huge problems, including their popularity ratings," he said.

FPOe radical leader Herbert Kickl, who has repeatedly called for swift new elections, is "banking on those popularity ratings" dropping further, Hofer added.

The far-right FPOe tops current opinion polls with more than 33 percent, up from the almost 29 percent gained in September, while the OeVP has slumped to under 19 percent in voter opinion surveys, compared to over 26 percent they got in September.

The OeVP - which has ruled the country of nine million since 1987 - has already governed several times with the SPOe in what is known as a grand coalition.