Austria‘s first three-party government since the aftermath of World War Two took office on Monday, ending the country’s longest-ever wait for a ruling coalition and keeping the Russia-friendly, far-right Freedom Party (FPO) out of power.
Although the FPO won September’s parliamentary election with about 29% of the vote, the eurosceptic party failed to form a workable coalition, opening the door to a centrist alternative.
When the FPO bid crumbled, the conservative People’s Party (OVP), Social Democrats (SPO) and liberal Neos struck an alliance, overcoming their own earlier failure to do a deal.
“Now it is about cooperation, it is about getting things done,” President Alexander Van der Bellen said as he swore in the new cabinet, hinting at concerns that a three-way coalition could prove fragile since two-party ones already have a habit of collapsing, as last happened in 2019 and 2017.
Had the latest centrist coalition effort failed, there would have been few alternatives to a snap election, which polls suggested would have increased the FPO’s share of the vote.
The new government headed by Chancellor Christian Stocker of the OVP takes office after two years of recession, and plans spending cuts and tax hikes on big business to bring Austria’s budget deficit back within European Union limits and avoid disciplinary proceedings from Brussels.
“There is much to do, the challenges are great and far-reaching,” Stocker said at a handover ceremony, taking over from caretaker Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg.
His government plans stricter immigration rules as well as tougher punishment against extremism and “political Islam” following a deadly knife attack by a Syrian refugee and planned Islamist attacks that were foiled.
The FPO has capitalised on concerns about immigration and security and it links the two issues, as have many far-right parties enjoying a resurgence across Europe. Having long called for an end to EU sanctions against Russia, it backs U.S. President Donald Trump’s overtures to Moscow on Ukraine.
The OVP will head the interior and defence ministries while the Social Democrats will control finance and justice, with the liberal Neos running foreign affairs.
Although the three parties have agreed on a 200-page government programme, they will have to hammer out many more policies as they go along.
“Will it be easy? No. Are the negotiations over? No,” Neos leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger said on Sunday, pledging “five years of tough negotiation” with the other parties.
The FPO has called for a snap election and will pressure them throughout.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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