In an effort to avoid the fall of the right, the Chancellor of Austria resigned

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Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehmer announced his resignation after months of efforts to form a centrist coalition that excluded the far-right had failed.

New elections could be held after the country’s historic anti-immigration Freedom Party of Russia failed to form a government. First place finish In a national vote in September.

Neuhammer, who has announced that he will step down as leader of the centre-conservative People’s Party (OVP), has protested that all parties in parliament will not work with FPO strongman Herbert in the country. The President was commissioned. Kickle.

In the year The 52-year-old who served as president before 2021 Sebastian Kurz He wanted to make a deal with the Social Democrats and the smaller liberal Neos party during a corruption investigation.

But on Friday, Nyos abruptly pulled out of the talks and on Saturday, Nehammer announced that he had abandoned his bid to form a government.

“Unfortunately, I have to tell you today that the negotiations are over and will not continue with the People’s Party,” he said in a video statement on social media X.

“In the coming days I will step up and make an orderly transition as chancellor and leader of the People’s Party.”

Neuhammer said that the “destructive forces” in the Social Democratic Party “gained the upper hand” in the negotiations and that his party refused to sign up to the proposed economic program.

The leader of the Social Democratic Party, Andreas Baber, said that he regretted the OVP’s decision to end the talks and said that his party was willing to compromise. “This decision is not good for our country,” he said.

A failure to negotiate would add to Austria’s political instability at a time when its economy is at risk of a third straight year of contraction in 2025. The country is facing the challenge of getting 18 to 24 billion euros in budget cuts, according to reports. From the European Union Commission.

One possibility is a new election, but that could further strengthen the Freedom Party, which polls show has seen the far-right party gain support after winning 29 percent in September.

The OVP must also begin a search for a new leader, with officials expected to meet on Sunday to discuss the process.

Austrian political analysts speculated on Saturday that Kurz might seek to regain the leadership of the ÖVP, with the former chancellor’s biographer weighing in on the possibility of a political comeback in an article published in German newspaper Bild.

Nehammer in 2010 But Baber warned of the danger that a successor to the Conservative party might be willing to work with far-right leader Kickle, who has steered the Freedom Party to the right since taking over the leadership in 2021. Agree with him.

“We are now aware of the potential threat. An FPÖ-OVP government with a radical right-wing chancellor threatens our democracy on many fronts.

Additional reporting by Sam Jones