FILE PHOTO: Head of NEOS party Beate Meinl-Reisinger speaks with journalists after coalition talks in Vienna, Austria, December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo
VIENNA (Reuters) -The smallest of three parties in talks to form Austria's next government unexpectedly quit those negotiations on Friday, throwing into disarray an effort to form a centrist ruling coalition without the far-right Freedom Party (FPO).
The shock move by the liberal Neos party raised serious doubts about the future of the coalition talks and buoyed the eurosceptic, Russia-friendly FPO. The FPO has railed against those negotiations since it was shut out despite winning the last parliamentary election in September with around 29% of the vote.
Although the FPO would have needed a coalition partner to govern and none was forthcoming, opinion polls show its support has only grown since it was sidelined and so the pressure to find a solution has increased for the two parties left in the talks - conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer's People's Party (OVP) and the Social Democrats (SPO).
"We Neos will not continue negotiations on a possible three-party coalition," their leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger told a hastily convened press conference in which she accused the other parties in the talks of lacking the courage to take tough decisions, including in their last meeting that ran into Thursday night.
The Neos have pressed for lower taxes and structural reforms, including unpopular ideas like raising the retirement age. Having never been in national government, they present themselves as a modernising force in contrast to the SPO and OVP, both traditional parties of power.
Friday's move underscored the growing difficulty of forming stable governments in European countries - such as Germany and France - where the far right has been on the rise but other parties are loath to partner with them. There are no easy paths left in Austria.
"Those involved have the choice between Scylla and Charybdis," political analyst Thomas Hofer said, referring to two sea monsters from Greek mythology who both threatened sailors. "They now have to choose between very, very bad options."
Together the SPO and OVP have a majority of just one seat in parliament, which is widely seen as impractically thin since a single lawmaker could tip the balance.
Whether the two could reach an agreement is unclear given their ideological differences on issues such as taxation. The OVP has pledged not to raise taxes while the SPO's flagship policy is to tax wealth and inheritance, which the OVP rejects.
BLAME
The OVP responded to Meinl-Reisinger's announcement by blaming the SPO.
"Backward-looking forces in the SPO gained the upper hand in recent days, resulting in the Neos withdrawing from the negotiations," OVP Secretary-General Christian Stocker said in a statement.
The SPO said on X the Neos wanted to restrict teachers' and police officers' pay when the wealthiest should shoulder more of the burden in shrinking the budget deficit.
Together the FPO and OVP would have a majority, and a portion of the OVP backs that idea since they overlap on issues including immigration, but Nehammer has ruled out governing with FPO leader Herbert Kickl, who in turn insists he would lead any government involving his party.
The only other party that could join the coalition talks is the Greens, Nehammer's current coalition partner, but that relationship is fraught.
A snap election is possible but would not be in the interests of the OVP or SPO as polls suggest they would fare worse than before, with the FPO now leading both by more than 10 percentage points.
The FPO wasted no time in attacking Nehammer and comparing his talks with the so-called "traffic-light coalition" in neighbouring Germany that recently collapsed.
"The FPO has been warning for months about this political monstrosity of the loser-traffic-light coalition," the FPO said on X. "People have had enough! It's time for you to resign, Mr Nehammer."
(Reporting by Francois MurphyEditing by Dave Graham and Frances Kerry)
