Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has announced that he will resign in the coming days after talks to form a new government failed for the second time.
His statement on Saturday came after the Fashionable Party and the Social Democratic Party continued coalition talks, a day after the liberal NEOS party’s surprise withdrawal from the discussions.
“Unfortunately I have to tell you today that the negotiations have ended and the Fashionable Party will not continue them,” said Nehammer, of the conservative Fashionable Party.
He claimed that the “destructive forces” of the Social Democratic Party had “taken the advantage” and that the Fashionable Party would not sign a program that supposedly goes against economic competitiveness.
Social Democratic Party leader Andreas Babler regretted the Fashionable Party’s decision to end negotiations, adding: “This is not a good decision for our country.”
Babler stated that one of the main obstacles had to do with how to repair the “record deficit” left by the previous government.
And he added: “I have offered Karl Nehammer and the Fashionable Party to continue negotiating and I have asked them not to stand up.”
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Austria’s next government faces the challenge of having to save between €18 billion and €24 billion, according to the EU Commission.
Austria has also been in recession for the past two years, is experiencing rising unemployment and its budget deficit currently stands at 3.7% of Gross Domestic Product, above the EU limit of 3%.
Talks have dragged on since Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen tasked the conservative chancellor in October with forming a new government.
The request came after all other parties refused to work with the leader of the far-right Freedom Party, who in September won a national election for the first time with 29.2% of the vote.
