Both Chancellor Karl Nehammer and the leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), Andreas Babler, have ruled out forming a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) after Austria’s parliamentary elections on 29 September.
Speaking during a debate at the Salzburg State Theatre, broadcast live on ORF, Nehammer, who also leads the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP), described FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl as a “conspiracy theorist.”
Current opinion polls place the FPÖ in the lead at around 27%, followed by the ÖVP in second and the SPÖ in third. If the FPÖ maintains its position and wins the election, it will need at least one coalition partner to form a government.
Nehammer’s ÖVP is presently the senior partner in Austria’s coalition government, with the Green Party as junior partner.
While Nehammer acknowledged that there are “reasonable voices” within the FPÖ, Babler ruled out any collaboration with the far-right party.
Meanwhile, Green Party leader Werner Kogler defended Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler’s controversial approval of the EU’s renaturation law earlier this year, which had caused friction with the ÖVP, who claimed they had not been consulted.
“That’s exactly what is credible,” Kogler stated, emphasising his party’s commitment to environmental protection: “The Greens made the difference.”
NEOS leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger focused on government spending, criticising the current ÖVP-Green coalition for increasing public debt, which she said necessitates spending cuts. “We need to do something on the expenditure side,” Meinl-Reisinger urged.
