Austria’s Coalition Talks End in Failure, NEOS to Withdraw
Austria’s coalition talks between the ÖVP, SPÖ, and NEOS have apparently reached a dead end, with the liberal party NEOS announcing its withdrawal from the negotiations on Friday morning. According to the Austrian Press Agency, NEOS will hold a press conference to confirm the move, which comes after intense talks that went late into the night.
The political landscape has changed significantly since the September national election, with the far-right FPÖ emerging as the strongest party, followed by the ÖVP and SPÖ. Despite its strong position, FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl failed to find a partner for government formation, leading the ÖVP, SPÖ, and NEOS to start coalition talks in November.
However, the negotiations proved extremely challenging, with a central point of contention being economic policy, particularly tax issues. In recent days, ÖVP leader Karl Nehammer threatened to abandon the talks, hinting at the tensions within the coalition.
NEOS leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger expressed her frustration in a emotional press conference on Friday, describing the negotiation atmosphere as “frustrating” and likening it to being “bound together with hands at the back.”
She particularly criticized the SPÖ, saying they had been more backward-looking than forward-thinking in the talks and that, under the current circumstances, there was no basis for genuine reforms. The “sugar-coated coalition” that many had hoped for had therefore failed to materialize.
Despite NEOS’ efforts to bring new proposals to the table, no progress was made by last night.
“We’ve been negotiating with energy from day one, we wanted to achieve more than the necessary” Meinl-Reisinger said.
However, no agreement was ultimately reached.
The sudden withdrawal came as a surprise, especially after ÖVP leader Nehammer had spoken of a possible agreement by the Epiphany. Behind the scenes, NEOS had also conducted an internal member survey, which showed no support for a three-party coalition. Additionally, reports from ÖVP circles suggest that the SPÖ had been “two-faced” in the negotiations, ultimately leading to the failure.
The future of Austrian politics is now uncertain, with the ÖVP and SPÖ reportedly trying to persuade NEOS to at least support the budget bill. Whether this will succeed and whether the two parties will continue to negotiate together remains to be seen.