Austria swears in new government, ending five-month political crisis

Austria’s President Alexander van der Bellen swore in the country’s new three-party government Monday, ending five months of political deadlock that followed the far right’s election victory last September.

Conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) leader Christian Stocker will be the prime minister, with the center-left Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the liberal Neos party also part of the coalition government.

“Good things come to those who wait,” Van der Bellen said at the beginning of his speech, as he thanked the parties for “stepping out of their comfort zones for the good of the whole country” to form the coalition.

With this alliance, the centrist parties prevented the far-right, pro-Russian Freedom Party (FPÖ) from coming to power despite it winning the most votes in the election.

Initial negotiations between the ÖVP, SPÖ and Neos attempted to form a government and halt the far right. However, those talks collapsed in early January over deep disagreements on fiscal policy.

Consequently, far-right leader Herbert Kickl received a mandate from the president to form a government.

Kickl hoped to govern with the ÖVP, but the conservatives had little appetite for being a junior partner to the FPÖ, as Kickl’s demands for sweeping tax cuts, an expansion of Austria’s debt and restrictions on EU fiscal policy clashed with the pro-European ÖVP’s policies.

Those talks broke down in mid-February, forcing conservative party leader Stocker to return to the original three-party formula.

The resulting coalition agreement involves a budget compromise that attempts to balance fiscal consolidation with investment in social welfare and economic growth.