Austrian Chancellor Karl Negammer announces his resignation after the failure of negotiations to form a ruling coalition.
Transmits to UNN with reference to DW.
Three months after the parliamentary elections in the EU country, coalition talks in Austria, which were held without the participation of the right-wing populist Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), have failed.
On Friday, the Neos liberals unexpectedly announced that they would not participate in a three-way alliance with the ÖVP and SPÖ.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Negammer announced that he is resigning after talks to form a coalition without the far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) failed.
We had long and honest negotiations. It is impossible to reach an agreement with SPÖ on key issues. We are terminating negotiations with SPÖ and will not continue them.
He also added the following:
As federal chancellor and as chairman of the People's Party, in the next few days I will be stepping down
Meanwhile, SPÖ chairman Andreas Babler has described the suspension of coalition talks as bad news for Austria. Now the country is threatened by a "blue-black, and with it a right-wing extremist chancellor," Babler said, referring to the party colors of the AfD and ÖVP.
Reference
The EU-skeptical FPÖ party became the strongest force in the parliamentary elections in late September. However, its leader, Herbert Kickl, did not receive a mandate to form a government from Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen.