Austria's unlikely chancellor starts job of leading historic coalition

Austria's conservative People's Party (OeVP) leader Christian Stocker became the country's unlikely chancellor on Monday to head a three-party governing coalition, weeks after the far right failed to form a government.

The Freedom Party (FPOe) won elections in September for the first time by securing almost a third of votes but it was unsuccessful in its bid to form Austria's first far right-led government with the runner-up conservatives last month. 

Capping the Alpine EU member's longest stretch without a government in its modern history, the OeVP and two centrist parties last week reached a deal to form a coalition.

On Monday, local politician turned conservative leader Stocker was formally sworn in as chancellor by President Alexander Van der Bellen at a ceremony at Vienna's Hofburg Palace. Van der Bellen emphasized the importance of having a stable government in "challenging" times due to geopolitical tensions.

"Especially... after last weekend," he said, referring to the reactions in Europe following the White House spat between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"In Europe, there must be a new way of sticking together, both politically and in terms of joint peacekeeping," he added.

The new cabinet members were also sworn in at Monday's ceremony.

Earlier this year, Stocker took over the OeVP leadership to replace former chancellor Karl Nehammer after the failure of a first round of three-way coalition talks without the far right.

The 64-year-old lawyer, who is a fly-fishing enthusiast and enjoys playing golf and the saxophone, became OeVP general secretary in 2022. Before becoming a lawmaker in 2019, he was deputy mayor in his native Wiener Neustadt, a city near Vienna.

'Flexibility' key to process

The three-party governing coalition is Austria's first since 1949.

"The OeVP has shown flexibility" in reaching the coalition deal, taking the interior and defense ministries but handing the finance ministry it held for ages to the Social Democrats (SPOe), political analyst Peter Hajek said.

"Stocker is slowly gaining credibility and sharpening his public profile."

Apart from the finance ministry, the SPOe will steer the justice ministry, while the liberal NEOS will hold the foreign and education ministries. Entitled "Do the right thing now. For Austria", the three parties last week unveiled their 200-page-strong government programme.

The programme focuses on reigning in the country's ballooning budget deficit in order to comply with EU spending rules.

But it also calls for stricter policies on asylum rules, including a temporary halt of family reunification "with immediate effect" for refugees, and plans to stop accepting asylum requests if the numbers of asylum seekers rise.

FPOe radical leader Herbert Kickl, who has repeatedly called for swift new elections, had condemned "the worst programme of all time - a low point for Austria!"

The FPOe tops current opinion polls with more than 33 percent, up from the almost 29 percent they gained in September.

The OeVP - which has ruled the country of nine million since 1987 - has slumped to under 19 percent in voter opinion surveys, compared to the more than 26 percent in September.