Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has expressed his support for asking the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), the winner of Sunday’s parliamentary elections, to lead exploratory coalition talks.

“In my view, it is tradition that the winner of the election is tasked with leading the exploratory talks,” Nehammer told journalists after a meeting of his People’s Party (ÖVP) in Vienna. He added that the election winner also traditionally nominates the President of the National Council, the lower chamber of parliament responsible for most legislation.

The FPÖ secured first place in Austria’s parliamentary elections for the first time, with 29% of the vote, while the ÖVP came second and the Social Democrats (SPÖ) finished third.

However, Nehammer did not provide a clear answer when asked if the ÖVP would accept every proposal from the FPÖ.

Regarding the formation of a government, he emphasised that it is primarily the responsibility of the Austrian President, a sentiment echoed by several prominent figures within the ÖVP. Upper Austria’s Governor Thomas Stelzer and Parliamentary Leader August Wöginger agreed that “democratic customs” should be upheld, but they stressed that their view of FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl remains unchanged.

Nehammer has previously described Kickl as a conspiracy theorist and a “radicalised” individual.

On Tuesday morning, Nehammer informed the Austria Press Agency that he would submit himself to a vote of confidence during the ÖVP meeting, which he received unanimously. He commented on his party’s performance, saying, “With over 26%, the result was significantly better than expected.”