TURNING POINT IN AUSTRIA: State crisis - Will the right-wing populist FPÖ move into the Chancellery? In Austria, a meeting between Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen and FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl this late morning is eagerly awaited. It is expected that the head of state will commission the right-wing populist to form a government. Previously, negotiations for the formation of a three-party coalition of the conservative ÖVP, social democratic SPÖ and liberal Neos, which the head of state himself favoured, had failed after six weeks due to major discrepancies in content. Kickl himself was rather vague in the run-up to the meeting. "Some things seem to be a lot clearer today than in the last few days, some are still uncertain," wrote Kickl on Facebook. At the same time, with a view to the recent dramatic developments, he stated: "We are not responsible for lost time, for chaotic conditions and the enormous damage to trust that has occurred." The FPÖ clearly won the parliamentary election three months ago, but was initially passed over in coalition talks due to the other parties' unwillingness to work with the right-wing populists. The conservative ÖVP, which had previously been on a course contrary to the FPÖ, announced that it would now be available for alliance talks with the right-wing party. Agreements and differences between the ÖVP and the FPÖ If the talks take place and an agreement is reached, the way would be clear for Austria's first chancellor from the ranks of the FPÖ. The 56-year-old Kickl, who positioned himself as the "People's Chancellor" during the election campaign, is known, among other things, for his pro-Russian stance and an extremely strict migration policy with large-scale deportations. For any coalition talks between the FPÖ and the ÖVP, there is a great deal of agreement on economic, asylum and education policy, said political scientist Kathrin Stainer-Hämmerle in the evening on the ORF news program "ZiB2". However, there are significant discrepancies in EU, foreign and security policy, said Hämmerle. Joint concepts for dealing with the deep budget crisis are also completely open, said the President of the Fiscal Council Christoph Badelt on ORF. It is questionable whether a new Chancellor from the FPÖ would want to start with unpopular austerity measures or tax increases, Badelt continued. "We all don't know what the FPÖ would actually be prepared to do when it comes to budget consolidation." Austria urgently needs to restructure its budget in order to avoid an EU deficit procedure. Stocker succeeds Nehammer as party leader After the negotiations between the ÖVP, SPÖ and Neos failed, Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced his resignation. He was temporarily succeeded as party leader by the former ÖVP General Secretary Christian Stocker. Like Nehammer, Stocker has been one of Kickl's harshest critics, accusing him of being incapable of governing, among other things. He had also described the FPÖ leader as a "security risk". In the meantime, a comeback by former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz was also being discussed as an option for the ÖVP. On Sunday, however, it became clear that the 38-year-old, who is now a successful entrepreneur, is not available to succeed the current Chancellor and ÖVP leader Nehammer, according to those close to him. Federal President points to change in mood The development in favor of the FPÖ is also seen as a blow for the Federal President, who had preferred a three-party coalition without the right-wing populists. But now it is a matter of Austria getting a capable and stable government, said the head of state. According to Van der Bellen, Nehammer will initially remain in office as Chancellor for a short time. The Chancellor's succession will be decided over the course of the week. The new head of government will lead the country until the next government is sworn in. The head of state had repeatedly stressed in his statements that he would ensure "to the best of his knowledge and belief" that the cornerstones of democracy - he mentioned the rule of law, the separation of powers, free, independent media and EU membership - would continue to be upheld. Subscribe to the WELT YouTube Channel / weltvideotv WELT DOKU Channel / weltdoku WELT Podcast Channel / weltpodcast WELT Netzreporter Channel / dienetzreporter The WELT news livestream http://bit.ly/2fwuMPg The top news on WELT.de http://bit.ly/2rQQD9Q The media library on WELT.de http://bit.ly/2Iydxv8 / welt.nachrichtensender On our own behalf: Due to the high volume of irrelevant and offensive posts, we are currently unable to accept any more comments. Thank you for your understanding - the WELT team created Video 2024