The Austrian Freedom Party (FPO) has been asked by the country’s president, Alexander van der Bellen, to form a coalition to govern the country.
This comes after elections held in September in which the FPO emerged as the single-biggest party, with 29% of the vote. However, following the poll, Van der Bellen asked People’s Party (OVP) which had come second with 26% of the vote to form a government. But talks to form a governing coalition between the OVP and other parties finally collapsed over the weekend, which saw Van der Bellen approach the FPO.
The FPO has been in government before, but only as a junior partner.
The FPO is seen by some observers as being hard-right, and the party has also expressed support for Russia, opposing sanctions against it.
Following the collapse of talks led by the OVP, the party’s new leader, Christian Stocker, said it would be willing to work with the FPO: a change from the party’s previous leadership’s stance.
If talks again fail to secure a coalition government, a snap election is possible.