Austria: ÖVP politician Alexander Schallenberg turns into interim chancellor | EUROtoday

Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg is to behave as Chancellor in Austria throughout the present section of presidency formation. This was introduced by the workplace of Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen.

At the weekend, the earlier head of presidency, Karl Nehammer, introduced his resignation after his efforts to kind a coalition of centrist events failed. He needs to formally resign on Friday. On the identical day, Schallenberg is to quickly take over the administration of the Federal Chancellery and the chairmanship of the federal government along with his ministerial workplace.

On Monday, President Van der Bellen commissioned the pinnacle of the right-wing populist FPÖ, Herbert Kickl, to kind a authorities. He needs to kind a coalition with the conservative ÖVP.

The ÖVP politician Schallenberg doesn’t wish to belong to an FPÖ-led authorities. The 55-year-old has served as Austria’s chief diplomat since 2019 – with a brief interruption: on the finish of 2021, he additionally took over the Chancellery for a number of weeks throughout a political transition section. He now has the duty of quickly persevering with the present cupboard made up of conservative and Green ministers.

Schallenberg doesn’t wish to be part of the FPÖ authorities

The right-wing FPÖ gained the election within the fall and relegated the earlier chancellor’s occasion ÖVP to second place. After talks a few middle authorities collapsed, it’s now Kickl’s flip. ÖVP boss Christian Stocker needed to touch upon the following steps on Wednesday afternoon.

Foreign Minister Schallenberg is taken into account pro-European and helps the EU sanctions in opposition to belligerent Russia. Kickl, alternatively, pursues an EU-critical and Moscow-friendly course. It is exactly in these areas that the FPÖ and ÖVP must overcome main variations with the intention to kind a authorities.