FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl and ÖVP chairman Christian Stocker announced on Thursday afternoon that the coalition negotiations would be resumed.

Coalition Negotiations Resumed After Phone Call Between Kickl and Stocker

"The talks with the Austrian People's Party to form a federal government, which were recently interrupted at the chief negotiator level, will be resumed as soon as possible," Kickl declared after a related phone call with Stocker in a press release. Stocker confirmed the continuation in a message on the short messaging service X (formerly Twitter). The ÖVP justified this with the responsibility for the country: "Responsibility is a central core value of the People's Party, which guides our actions even in challenging times," the party also wrote on X. "Out of responsibility for Austria, our federal party chairman (Stocker, note) is resuming the government negotiations with the FPÖ as soon as possible. We need a stable government - for the people and Austria!"

Continuation of Coalition Negotiations Expected as Early as Friday

When the talks between the party leaders or the chief negotiators will specifically resume has not yet been communicated. According to APA information, it should happen this week, presumably as early as Friday. The stumbling blocks that led to the halt of talks at the leadership level are reportedly still present. Federal President Van der Bellen, meanwhile, has canceled a planned visit to the women's downhill at the Ski World Championships in Saalbach on Saturday, apparently due to the coalition negotiations, as reported by the "Kleine Zeitung." The presidential office confirmed the cancellation upon APA inquiry but did not comment further on the reasons.

Dispute Over Ministries Caused Pause in Coalition Negotiations

The current dispute escalated on Tuesday after Kickl presented Stocker with a proposal for the distribution of ministries. This was "unacceptable" for the People's Party, did not correspond to the election result, and was therefore not on equal terms, it was said on Thursday before the now apparently calming phone call from ÖVP circles. Therefore, after internal consultation on Wednesday, a counter-proposal was submitted to the Freedom Party, which "can gladly be discussed at the negotiating table if Herbert Kickl wants to resume the talks he interrupted."

This portrayal by the ÖVP then angered the FPÖ. It was denied to the APA that a counter-offer from the ÖVP had been received. There had only been an "atmospheric conversation between two members of the chief negotiator group" on Wednesday - it is said not to have involved the party leaders - nothing more. Furthermore, the FPÖ indignantly denied having interrupted the negotiations on Tuesday, as the People's Party claimed. Kickl had presented the list to Stocker, who then announced internal consultations and left.

Coalition Negotiations in Subgroups Also on Wednesday

The small meeting with the party leaders that took place on Tuesday was actually supposed to discuss unresolved substantial issues - but relatively quickly, it turned to the distribution of ministries. The FPÖ claims departments that are particularly important to the ÖVP - such as finance and interior, but also European agendas. Consequently, they parted ways quite angrily on late Tuesday afternoon, with the ÖVP speaking of a "difficult phase".

Since then, there has been radio silence between the party leaders, even though subgroups continued negotiations on Wednesday. The mood further deteriorated when Kickl reinforced the FPÖ's claim to the finance and interior departments via Facebook on Wednesday - the ÖVP expressed "surprise" at this.

On Wednesday afternoon, Stocker had an appointment with Van der Bellen. What was discussed there remained as secret as the content of the conversation with Kickl. The presidential office confirmed the talks with the two party leaders to the APA on Thursday afternoon but did not disclose the content of the discussions. Confidentiality was agreed upon with both negotiating partners. Currently, there are no plans for the head of state to comment on the current situation.

Substantial Issues in Coalition Negotiations Also Unresolved

The allocation of positions was not the only unresolved point in the negotiations recently. According to APA information, significant points in the subgroups are marked "red", especially in those concerning foreign policy or media, but also partially in the areas of finance and taxes. The chief negotiators are supposed to address these unresolved issues, but there seems to have been no real progress so far. Even after the announcement of the resumption of talks, this situation does not appear to have changed.

There still seems to be no movement from either side on the bank levy demanded by the Freedom Party. The turquoise economic wing is also likely to oppose a financial contribution from the chambers to budget consolidation. Additional points of contention include the FPÖ's desired abolition of the ORF household levy, the Sky Shield missile defense system, and a common line on European policy.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.