"Governing honestly"
Kickl and Stocker meet for exploratory talks
On Thursday afternoon, things got really serious between the blue and black parties. FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl and ÖVP leader Christian Stocker each met with two confidants for in-depth exploratory talks. Progress was made: the start of the coalition negotiations is now official.
On Thursday, the diaries of many ÖVP grandees were set one last time for former leader and chancellor Karl Nehammer. The resigned leader hosted an unofficial farewell party at the Chancellery.
Nehammer's successor Christian Stocker was to join him later. He had previously met his three blue counterparts Herbert Kickl, Norbert Nemeth and Reinhard Teufel together with the President of the Chamber of Commerce Harald Mahrer and Club Chairman August Wöginger.
With success: the ÖVP is now officially entering into coalition negotiations with the FPÖ. This was agreed in a "clarifying discussion" between the party leaders, both sides announced in the evening.
The two three-man teams will now also form the core Blue-Black team. The group of negotiators should be expanded again on Friday (see below).
Budget as the first sticking point
The negotiations should now bring clarity as to what the further blue-black roadmap looks like and, above all, whether a consolidation of the red-white-red state budget could succeed.
According to the FPÖ, the ÖVP had agreed that an EU deficit procedure should be averted for Austria against the background of the existing billion-euro budget gap.
In this first round, it was agreed that the budgetary framework conditions and course must be clarified as a first joint step.
Herbert Kickl
"Want to govern Austria honestly"
According to Kickl, it was important to note that "joint negotiations must be based on a firm and solid budgetary foundation from the outset. The people must know where they stand. The Austrians have a right to predictability, reliability and clarity. This has been our approach to this project from day one. We want to govern Austria honestly."
Stocker once again cited Austria's sovereignty - particularly in relation to Russia - the partnership with the EU and "western liberal democracy based on the rule of law" as cornerstones for his party.
For us, the most important cornerstones are Austria's sovereignty against foreign influence, especially from Russia, Austria as a reliable partner in the EU and our western liberal democracy based on the rule of law.
Christian Stocker
The other names in the teams
In addition to Kickl, Nemeth and Teufel, Susanne Fürst, Secretaries General Christian Hafenecker and Michael Schnedlitz, Budget Spokesman Hubert Fuchs and ÖBB CFO Arnold Schiefer are also part of the FPÖ negotiating team.
In addition to the core team of three, Claudia Plakolm, the new Secretary General Alexander Pröll and Farmers' Association President Georg Strasser will also be negotiating with the ÖVP.
Demonstrations in Vienna and provincial capitals
While the blue-black coalition continued on its way, several thousand people (estimated at 5,000 according to ÖAMTC and 50,000 by the organizers) took to the streets in Vienna to protest against the FPÖ's participation in the government.
NGOs such as Volkshilfe, Greenpeace and SOS Mitmensch had called for a human chain in front of the Federal Chancellery under the slogan "Alarm for the Republic". Protests were also held in other provincial capitals such as Graz and Innsbruck, each with several hundred people.
Fierce criticism from the world of culture
In the evening, local writers' associations and the platform "The Value of Democracy" questioned the credibility of both parties and warned of a "permanent elimination of democratic processes".
Writer Michael Köhlmeier even described a possible Chancellor Kickl as a "political disaster" in the Vorarlberger Nachrichten newspaper. In his person, he represents the neglect of character in politics like no other. The ÖVP was practising "absolute self-abandonment in every respect". He sees Austria's political future as "very bleak".
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