Coalition talks in Austria have reached a deadlock, according to reports by Austrian media on Tuesday. While some outlets claimed that negotiations to form a government bringing the far-right FP\u00d6 to power had collapsed, the parties involved insisted that discussions are still ongoing.<\/p>\n
The far-right Freedom Party (FP\u00d6), which emerged as the largest party in Austria\u2019s September elections, has been engaged in government formation talks with the centre-right Austrian People’s Party (\u00d6VP) since January. FP\u00d6 leader Herbert Kickl had previously warned that if the \u00d6VP did not fully accept his party as the leading force in the coalition, he would withdraw from the talks and push for new elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government negotiations are in a difficult phase,\u201d the \u00d6VP stated on Tuesday evening, according to local media. However, the party emphasized that it remains in \u201congoing talks\u201d and confirmed that \u201cnegotiations in subgroups are scheduled for today and tomorrow.\u201d \u00d6VP negotiator Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer told reporters earlier on Tuesday that the chances of success were \u201c50-50.\u201d<\/p>\n
Responding to media reports suggesting that talks had been suspended, the FP\u00d6 clarified: \u201cThere is no break in the negotiations. It seems that the \u00d6VP is coordinating internally. This is quite normal in negotiations. We are also coordinating within ourselves repeatedly. Talks could continue tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Efforts to form a government excluding the FP\u00d6 failed earlier this year, leaving the FP\u00d6 and \u00d6VP as the primary contenders for a coalition. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Vienna on Tuesday to oppose a potential FP\u00d6-\u00d6VP government. The demonstration coincided with the 25th anniversary of the first \u00d6VP-FP\u00d6 coalition.<\/p>\n
According to local media, protesters chanted slogans such as \u201cWe are the firewall, where are you?\u201d and \u201cNow is the chance to break off negotiations.\u201d The original \u00d6VP-FP\u00d6 coalition in 2000 prompted Austria\u2019s EU partners to impose bilateral \u201cdiplomatic sanctions\u201d on Vienna, breaking a long-standing taboo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Coalition talks in Austria have reached a deadlock, according to reports by Austrian media on Tuesday. While some outlets claimed that negotiations to form a government bringing the far-right FP\u00d6 to power had collapsed, the parties involved insisted that discussions are still ongoing. The far-right Freedom Party (FP\u00d6), which emerged as the largest party in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7654,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6079,6076,985,6077,6069,6078,6074,4665,6080,3576,3311,6071,805,5024,4664,6075,6068,6072,4600,4603,6081,561,6073,6070],"class_list":["post-7653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","tag-2000-sanctions","tag-anti-fpo-protests","tag-austria","tag-austrian-democracy","tag-austrian-elections","tag-austrian-league-history","tag-austrian-peoples-party","tag-austrian-politics","tag-austrian-street-protests","tag-coalition-government","tag-coalition-talks","tag-eu-diplomatic-sanctions","tag-european-union","tag-far-right-politics","tag-fpo","tag-freedom-party","tag-government-formation","tag-government-negotiations","tag-herbert-kickl","tag-ovp","tag-ovp-fpo-coalition","tag-political-crisis","tag-political-deadlock","tag-vienna-protests"],"yoast_head":"\n