Austria’s new government has been officially sworn in at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. This marks a milestone in the country’s history, as the coalition government comprises three parties – the ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS – for the first time.
The ceremony, held in the historic Maria-Theresien-Zimmer, saw the new ministers and state secretaries take the oath of office. The ÖVP’s Christian Stocker has taken over as Chancellor, replacing Alexander Schallenberg. The SPÖ’s Andreas Babler has been appointed Vice-Chancellor, in addition to his role as Minister for Housing, Art, Culture, Media and Sport.
The new government team consists of ministers from the ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS. The ÖVP has assigned Gerhard Karner to the Ministry of the Interior, Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer to the Ministry of Economy, Klaudia Tanner to the Ministry of Defense, Norbert Totschnig to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and Claudia Plakolm to the Ministry of Youth, Family, EU and Integration.
The SPÖ has nominated Markus Marterbauer as the new Minister of Finance, Anna Sporrer as the Minister of Justice, Korinna Schumann as the Minister of Social Affairs and Health, Peter Hanke as the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport and Eva-Maria Holzleitner as the Minister for Women and Science.
The NEOS has appointed Beate Meinl-Reisinger as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Christoph Wiederkehr as the Minister of Education.
Seven state secretaries have also been appointed, with three from the ÖVP, three from the SPÖ and one from the NEOS.
The new government is expected to set the direction for the country’s future and the coming days will show whether this unusual three-party coalition can work effectively.