Crisis group and plans

How the first blue-black marriage contract is drawn up

The party leaders Stocker and Kickl could soon find common ground.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/REUTERS, stock.adobe.com)

It will not be a love affair, but rather a sober marriage of convenience. The blue-black marriage contract is to be signed in mid-February. Despite the many similarities in terms of content, the road ahead will be rocky. Foreign policy issues such as Ukraine, the EU and the Sky Shield are particularly explosive, which a "demining group" is supposed to defuse.

Trust is needed for this politically delicate blue-black undertaking. And for this trust, apparently also their own small circles. As the "Krone" has learned, the steering group is to act as a kind of "demining service" between the two camps in parallel to the negotiations in the subgroups and defuse political explosives if necessary.

Representatives of the steering groups on the Freedom Party side include the two General Secretaries Michael Schnedlitz and Christian Hafenecker as well as Kickl's right-hand man Reinhard Teufel. On the ÖVP side, Chamber of Commerce President Harald Mahrer, club leader August Wöginger and young hopeful Claudia Plakolm will act as mediators if necessary.

In general, the negotiations are proceeding in a highly "efficient and structural" manner, according to the office of ÖVP leader Stocker. They are not yet willing to make any concrete statements about finalizing or fixing the blue-black coalition. This would be dubious, but in response to specific questions, it was confirmed that mid-February would be realistic.

Three meetings per group
The procedure until then also seems clear: the FPÖ and ÖVP have agreed that all 13 negotiating groups will meet three times each over the next two weeks. At the same time, all discrepancies in the demining group are to be clarified. After the end of the semester break in Vienna and Lower Austria, which lasts until February 8, the blue-black marriage contract could be presented to the public. 

The various meetings in the 13 groups will also serve to build a team. The aim is for the people involved to get to know each other better. There will be no more love between the People's Party and the Freedom Party, the mutual dislike is too great for that. According to reports, the 13 negotiating groups roughly correspond to the future ministries. They are likely to be headed by roughly the same people.

Agreement on lowering the age of criminal responsibility
In contrast to the negotiations on the "Zuckerl" coalition, very little has come through in terms of content. There is agreement on lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 14 to twelve years. On the subject of deportations, it is said that the limits of what is legally feasible have been reached. As reported, there are also likely to be lines of conflict on the issue of the Sky Shield.

ÖVP Defence Minister Klaudia Tanner said in response to an inquiry from Krone: "Sky Shield is an important program for procuring defence systems at low cost. It is now up to us to negotiate, and we will have to wait and see what decisions are made. I see a lot of agreement, especially in the area of national defense." Media reports that the ÖVP had "fallen over" on the issue would logically not be confirmed.