Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg has been appointed interim Chancellor, just days after Karl Nehammer resigned as head of government following the collapse of talks to form a centrist coalition.
The announcement was made by President Alexander Van der Bellen.
Schallenberg – a senior member of the People’s Party (ÖVP), which failed to negotiate a coalition with the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the liberal NEOS party – previously served as interim Chancellor from October to December 2021, following the resignation of former ÖVP leader Sebastian Kurz.
He will now take charge as the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) seeks to negotiate a coalition with the ÖVP, which is also under interim leadership. The party’s General Secretary, Christian Stocker, assumed control over the weekend after Nehammer stepped down as both Chancellor and ÖVP leader.
FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl was tasked with forming a new government on Monday. Although the FPÖ won Austria’s parliamentary elections in September, it was initially excluded from coalition talks as no other party was willing to partner with it.
However, following the collapse of talks between the ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS, President Van der Bellen entrusted Kickl with the mandate, describing the decision as one he did not take lightly.
