Austrian far-right given mandate to lead government

Austria’s President has tasked far-right Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl with trying to form a new government.

Mr Kickl’s party won Austria’s parliamentary election in September, taking 28.8% of the vote and beating outgoing Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s conservative Austrian People’s Party into second place.

But in October, President Alexander Van der Bellen gave Mr Nehammer the first chance to form a new government after Mr Nehammer’s party said it wouldn’t go into government with the Freedom Party under Mr Kickl. Others refused to work with the Freedom Party at all.

Those efforts to form a governing alliance without the far-right collapsed in the first few days of the new year and Mr Nehammer said on Saturday that he would resign.

The People’s Party then signalled that it might be open to working under Mr Kickl.

Mr Van der Bellen said after meeting Mr Kickl for about an hour at the presidential palace on Monday that he had tasked the Freedom Party leader with holding talks with the People’s Party to form a new government.

Coalition talks between the far-right and conservatives are not guaranteed to succeed, but there are no longer any other realistic options in the current parliament and polls suggest that a new election soon could strengthen the Freedom Party further.