Statement at 10 a.m.

Stocker: A budget restructuring is “achievable”

After just a few days of negotiations, there is agreement on how the state budget should be restructured.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/APA/Alex Halada, APA/Herbert Neubauer)

The FPÖ and ÖVP invite you to a press statement on the coalition talks at 10 a.m. in the parliamentary auditorium. Since Friday, a group of experts has been negotiating how the severely ailing domestic budget should be restructured. As the "Krone" learned in advance, an agreement has been reached.

The blue-black coalition is getting serious: FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl, ÖVP leader Christian Stocker, FPÖ member of the National Council Arnold Schiefer and ÖVP parliamentary group chairman August Wöginger spoke at the first joint press conference on Monday about the "initial results of the budget roadmap". Specifically, they are likely to have agreed on a seven-year recovery path without EU deficit procedures. Measures such as the climate bonus are likely to be scrapped. By way of comparison: the negotiators of the Zuckerl coalition needed around two months to reach a decision on the budget, Blue-Black only three days.

According to ÖVP leader Christian Stocker, these negotiations went very well. However, he and his party must now work on restoring their own credibility.

Stocker had already admitted in several interviews at the weekend that his reputation had suffered as a result of the U-turn towards the FPÖ. While Stocker was still considered one of Kickl's fiercest critics during the election campaign, he has been negotiating a new government with the FPÖ leader since the talks with the SPÖ and NEOS broke down. However, his attitude towards the blue party leader has not changed: "I know what I said and I stand by what I said. And I also know that I am now doing something that I previously said I would not do," Stocker explained in the new ORF program "Das Gespräch". Once again, he blamed the SPÖ, above all party leader Andreas Babler, for the collapse of the three-way talks.

I know what I said and I stand by what I said. And I also know that I am now doing something that I previously said I would not do.

ÖVP-Chef Christian Stocker

Bild: Copyright by Gerhard Deutsch

The budget is the most pressing problem
No substantive negotiations have yet taken place. The biggest issue, the restructuring of the heavily burdened budget, is to be resolved first. To this end, a group of experts has been meeting "on an ongoing basis" since Friday. These are going well, but the ÖVP leader was not more specific at the weekend: "I assume that what we have to report to Brussels can also be reported to Brussels".

Austria has until January 21 to announce how the budget is to be consolidated. The ÖVP had previously always ruled out new taxes, but it would be different to "increase existing taxes here and there", said Stocker.

Security concerns about a blue chancellor
He had "heard" the concerns of international security politicians and experts about a blue chancellor and what this would mean for the Austrian secret service. The aim was to "achieve a negotiation result so that these concerns can be dispelled". However, Stocker did not want to be more specific when asked.

If we were CO2-neutral right now, we wouldn't have saved the climate, but the economy would probably be ruined.

ÖVP-Chef Christian Stocker

Bild: Jöchl Martin

There is a risk that Kickl will vote differently than agreed in Brussels, for example on issues relating to support for Ukraine, but not everything can be regulated, said Stocker, who compared this situation with Leonore Gewessler's (Greens) solo effort on the EU renaturation pact. In general, he does not want to "subordinate" competitiveness to climate protection. "If we were CO2-neutral right now, we wouldn't have saved the climate, but the economy would probably be ruined."

Stocker also emphasized once again that just because negotiations are currently underway, a blue-black coalition is not yet set in stone. If this were to happen, each party would be responsible for its own personnel, he said, referring to the FPÖ's proximity to the Identitarians, who are classified as right-wing extremists by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. He left open whether he would go into a new election as the lead candidate if the talks failed: "Let's cross the bridge when we get there".

Ex-chancellor's spokeswoman: ÖVP has given up its "THEN"
Stocker was joined in the new TV format not only by journalist Susanne Schnabl, but also by former member of the National Council Irmgard Griss (NEOS) and strategy consultant and former chancellor's spokeswoman for Wolfgang Schüssel (ÖVP), Heidi Glück. The former finds the prospect of Herbert Kickl as Chancellor "certainly not reassuring". The latter took Stocker and the ÖVP to task. For strategic reasons, it had been wrong from the outset to dub Kickl a security risk. This had taken away their own room for maneuver in the negotiations. However, the People's Party had already become "relatively profile-less" in recent years and had abandoned its "DNA" - for example on the topics of the economy or the EU.

With the first edition of "Das Gespräch", ORF has replaced the political talk show "Im Zentrum", which ensured good ratings for almost 18 years, but recently attracted increasing criticism due to a "rigid concept" and "rarely surprising guests", as ORF broadcasting team editor-in-chief Johannes Bruckenberger explained at the presentation of "Das Gespräch" in December. The new program, on the other hand, should score points with "the greatest possible flexibility" - also with regard to the number of guests. The studio and color scheme have been renewed. Discussions are held at a wooden table under the moderation of Susanne Schnabl.