VIENNA: The liberal Neos party, the smallest of the three centrist parties involved in Austria’s coalition talks, announced on Friday (Jan 3) that it is withdrawing from the negotiations, throwing the process into turmoil. This move has left the future of the talks highly uncertain, especially as the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), which secured the highest number of votes in the September parliamentary election, remains on the sidelines.
Neos leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger expressed disappointment with the lack of progress in the talks, stating that the discussions with Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s conservative People’s Party (OVP) and the Social Democrats (SPO) had been unambitious and failed to make significant headway. Despite the withdrawal, Meinl-Reisinger indicated that her party would still support agreed-upon projects in parliament, suggesting that a potential two-party coalition between the OVP and SPO could be formed, although such a coalition would hold a slim majority of just one seat in the lower house.
The move further complicates Austria’s political landscape as the eurosceptic and Russia-friendly FPO, which has gained support since securing 29 percent of the vote in the September elections, criticizes the ongoing talks as undemocratic and a “coalition of losers.” The FPO, excluded from the coalition process, is now waiting to see if it can exert influence over the government formation process, potentially capitalizing on the fragmentation within the current negotiations.
The situation remains fluid, with spokespersons for both the OVP and SPO unavailable for immediate comment. The next steps in the coalition talks will likely determine Austria’s political direction in the coming months.