"Kickl Has Failed": Parties Now Working with Van der Bellen on Coalition
The series of meetings at the Hofburg began with NEOS leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger at 11 a.m., followed by Green Party leader Werner Kogler at noon. ÖVP leader Christian Stocker is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., and his SPÖ counterpart Andreas Babler at 4:15 p.m.
NEOS Leader Meinl-Reisinger in Contact with SPÖ and ÖVP
"The fact is, Herbert Kickl has failed - with his claim to form a government and to be chancellor himself," said the NEOS leader before her meeting at the Hofburg to the many journalists waiting there. She herself is in contact with the party leaders of SPÖ and ÖVP and will discuss the various options with them as well as with the Federal President, so that "the population quickly gets a government."
She had already shown the possible alternatives to the ÖVP in the past few days, to demonstrate to the People's Party "that one is not at the mercy of Herbert Kickl's fantasies of omnipotence." The NEOS want to show constructiveness in all options, said Meinl-Reisinger upon leaving the Hofburg.
Kogler Sees New Chance for Pro-European Government
The population sees that "Emperor Kickl is naked," said Kogler before his conversation with Van der Bellen. It is now about cooperation among the constructive forces, for a majority in the National Council, ÖVP and SPÖ are needed. The Green Party leader emphasized - as the Federal President did the day before - the importance of willingness to compromise for liberal parliamentary democracy. He spoke of "new optimism": "We now have the chance to get a pro-European government again. A government that also values media freedom, by the way, and allows the institutions of the Second Republic to function."
(APA/Red)
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