In Austria, an agreement was finally reached to form a coalition government, thus avoiding the scenario of early elections and excluding the extreme right formation of the Freedom Party (FPO), five months after the latter’s victory in the parliamentary elections.
The agreement
The agreement will end the longest waiting for a new government in Austria from the Second World War. Three moderate centrist forces will govern: the Austrian People’s Party (Oevp), the Social Democratic Party (Spoe) and Neos liberals. Their agreement is focused on the consolidation of the budget, on the reduction of the cost of homes – with the blocking of rents for a year and increases contained in the medium term – and on more stringent policies in the field of immigration, which provide for mandatory integration programs for refugees and the ban on the veil for girls up to 14 years to “protect them from segregation and oppression”.
It will also be suspended “provisionally and with immediate effect” the granting of entry permits for the family members of asylum seekers. The latter will have to reside in special centers to prevent them from making themselves fugitive in the event that their question will be rejected. However, the emphasis will be placed on structures with dignified human conditions, with particular attention to the needs of minors. In foreign policy, the program reiterates the commitment to the European Union and support for Ukraine.
First time of a three -to -three breakfast
A first attempt to form a coalition with the same three parties had failed in January. Subsequently, it was initially granted to the FPO, which had obtained the majority relating to the elections, the task of forming a government, but without success.
It is the first time since the 1940s that Austria will have a tripartite coalition. “I expect the three of us to be able to form a government on Monday,” said the leader of the OEVP, Christian Stocker, favored to become the next chancellor. His conservative party will also obtain defense and interior ministries, while finances and justice will go to the dirt. Neos liberals should guide the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and that of Education. The leader of the FPO, Herbert Kickl, defined the alliance a “coalition of losers” and asked for early elections.
