Coalition negotiations fail, Austrian Chancellor announces resignation

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced on January 4 that he would resign in the coming days after withdrawing from coalition talks with the Social Democrats due to disagreements on key issues.

On social network X, Mr. Nehammer announced that he would resign from both the role of prime minister and chairman of the People's Party to facilitate an orderly transition.

The decision is expected to lead to early elections or pave the way for conservatives to negotiate with the far-right Freedom Party, which is set to win elections in September 2024.

Earlier, negotiations to form a three-party governing coalition in Austria collapsed on January 3 when the smallest party among potential coalition partners withdrew from the negotiations.

In September 2024, the far-right Freedom Party won its first general election with 28.85% of the vote, while the ruling People's Party in Austria came in second with 26.27%. Having failed to achieve an absolute majority, the Freedom Party needed to find a coalition partner to govern.

However, so far, other parties have ruled out the possibility of a coalition with the far-right party led by Herbert Kickl.

Mr Nehammer is trying to form a coalition between his People's Party and the centre-left Social Democrats and the liberal NEOS party.

However, NEOS leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger has informed Chancellor Nehammer, Social Democratic leader Andreas Babler and President Alexander Van der Bellen that NEOS will not continue negotiations to become a partner in the new government.