FILE PHOTO: Chancellor of Austria, Karl Nehammer speaks at the informal EU Summit at the Puskas Arena, in Budapest, Hungary, November 8, 2024. REUTERS/Marton Monus/File Photo
VIENNA (Reuters) -A third, liberal party will join Austria's coalition talks, conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on Tuesday as he tries to form a government without the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) that came first in September's election.
The eurosceptic, Russia-friendly FPO won the parliamentary election for the first time since it was founded in the 1950s under a leader who had been an SS officer and Nazi lawmaker.
With just 29% of the vote, however, it would have needed a coalition partner to control a majority of seats in parliament and form a government. Since none was forthcoming, President Alexander Van der Bellen tasked Nehammer with forming a government. He is in talks with the Social Democrats (SPO).
"We have agreed that we will continue the talks with the Neos' sounding-out team tomorrow," Nehammer told a joint news conference with SPO leader Andreas Babler, referring to the liberal party, which came fourth in the election.
Talks are still at the so-called sounding-out phase, involving a handful of officials from either side and which precede full-blown coalition talks where the talks are broken down into issues that each have their own negotiation teams.
Nehammer said when talks began more than two weeks ago that he would bring a third party on board, strongly hinting at the Neos. The only other option was his current coalition partner, the Greens, and their relationship has been fraught.
The Neos, like Nehammer, have pledged to cut taxes and oppose the SPO's flagship policy of introducing wealth and inheritance taxes.
Austria has not had a three-party coalition since independence in 1955, and many are looking at the collapse of neighbouring Germany's with concern. FPO leader Herbert Kickl has warned against such a "coalition of losers".
Asked when full-blown coalition talks could begin, Nehammer said there must first be a sounding-out phase with the Neos as there has with the Social Democrats, and repeated that coalition talks would be long and "rocky" as the parties must bridge significant ideological differences.
(Reporting by Francois Murphy, Editing by William Maclean, Alexandra Hudson)
