The collapse of the talks, which formally began in November, strengthens the hand of the anti-migrant, Russia-friendly Freedom Party (FPÖ), which doubled its vote share and surged to first place in September’s national election but has been blocked from forming a government, with all other major parties refusing to work with it.
FPÖ General Secretary Michael Schnedlitz called on Nehammer to resign after the failure of the coalition talks, which he dubbed a “political monstrosity” and a “loser-traffic-light coalition.”
Even without the support of NEOS, the SPÖ and ÖVP could continue negotiations on their own and form a two-way coalition, as the two parties together hold 92 of the 183 seats in the lower house of Austria’s parliament — a wafer-thin majority of just one seat.
