Haslauer convinced:

Dispute between FPÖ and ÖVP “artificially controlled”

Governor of Salzburg Wilfried Haslauer

(Bild: APA/BARBARA GINDL)

Salzburg's Governor Wilfried Haslauer (ÖVP) does not want to attach too much importance to the scolding from the blue state parties against his boss Christian Stocker. "This is a controlled agitation, a somewhat artificial one", he said on Sunday.

At the same time, the provincial governor admitted that the situation was "extremely difficult" for the ÖVP. The "U-turn" towards the FPÖ was "painful". "When someone becomes Federal Chancellor, it depends on whether they maintain this style or not," said Haslauer about the tone of FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl.

Stocker had said what the ÖVP stood for and he found that "legitimate". One does not lie "on one's stomach" with humility before Kickl and beg for a government. The alternative is a new election. This would mean a six-month standstill. "We need a government capable of acting," said Haslauer.

The ÖVP's U-turn towards the FPÖ is painful and difficult for my party.

Salzburgs Landeshauptmann Wilfried Haslauer

Failure still possible
It is "of course" possible that the coalition negotiations could still fail, said the Governor of Salzburg. One sticking point, for example, is a unified stance in the EU. He already sees positive signals from Kickl in this regard, said the politician.

Haslauer is critical, for example, of the FPÖ's desired "stove premium", i.e. money for those parents who look after their children at home for as long as possible. This would cause a number of problems, such as German language problems for children of migrants.

Regarding Sky Shield, which the FPÖ is known to oppose, he said that the air defense system was "indispensable for our security situation". He left open whether his party could leave the Ministry of the Interior to the negotiating partner.

Haslauer himself is handing over to the current Minister of the Constitution Karoline Edstadtler (ÖVP) this year. According to his own statement, he will not seek public office after that.