Start for Red-Green Coalition Negotiations After Burgenland Election

Burgenland's Governor Hans Peter Doskozil (SPÖ) and Green State Spokeswoman Anja Haider-Wallner meet at 2 pm with their negotiation teams at the Culture and Congress Centre in Eisenstadt. Earlier in the morning, the ÖVP and FPÖ will deal with the fact that the talks about the future state government after the Burgenland election will take place without them.

After Burgenland Election: ÖVP Continues to Face Leadership Debate

The ÖVP state party executive board is discussing the next steps after the desired government participation is likely to fail again. Whether state party leader Christian Sagartz is also up for debate, the officials did not want to comment for the most part before the meeting. However, Peter Nemeth, the state chairman of the Economic Association, was critical, saying he might not answer the question of whether Sagartz was firmly in the saddle "from my point of view". Ultimately, the state party leader must answer the question himself, Nemeth insisted, but: "He set goals and the goals were not achieved." Bernd Strobl, the mayor of Ollersdorf, on the other hand, assumed that Sagartz would stay. Sagartz himself will face the media after the board meeting. The time is still open.

Hofer Becomes FPÖ Club Chairman After Burgenland Election

The FPÖ introduced its new state parliament deputies at a press conference and once again reacted to the SPÖ's announcement to start government negotiations with the Greens. "Doskozil always signaled right, but has now turned sharply left," said Johann Tschürtz, former club chairman and future second president of the state parliament. The function of the club chairman is taken over by Norbert Hofer, who immediately announced numerous parliamentary activities. Urgent inquiries or applications, for example, to control the red election promises or also investigative committees would be conceivable. Hofer explained that he had assumed an SPÖ-ÖVP coalition until last week and was then surprised by the announcement. In the meantime, he has also received numerous letters from disappointed SPÖ officials: "Forming a far-left government has unsettled and disturbed many. I am already looking forward to the municipal elections (2027, note), how the voters will react. We will immediately start preparing."

After SPÖ Rejection: Hofer Sees Himself as "Bridge Builder"

Hofer rejected Doskozil's accusation that the FPÖ had acted with "untruths or half-truths" during the election campaign. Therefore, Hofer called on the SPÖ to list any accusations, which would then be subjected to a fact check and statements corrected if necessary. The election campaign was "absolutely factual," emphasized the new club chairman. He also dismissed the idea that the Freedom Party would divide society, on the contrary: "I am known as a bridge builder." State party chairman Alexander Petschnig also criticized that Doskozil's announced new cooperation was merely about making "behaviorally conspicuous politics" towards the federal government. Petschnig remains state party chairman, even though he is now in the National Council and Hofer is now in the state parliament.

FPÖ After Burgenland Election with Nine Deputies

In the blue club with nine mandates, in addition to Hofer and Tschürtz, are now Mario Jaksch, Michelle Whitfield, Michaela Brandlhofer, Christian Ries, Markus Wiesler, Sandro Waldmann and the previous club director Thomas Grandits. For the first time, the Burgenlanders are sending farmers' chairman Thomas Karacsony to the Federal Council. Hofer's mandate in the National Council is taken over by Michael Gmeindl. The new club director in Burgenland is Konrad Belakowitsch. The fraternity member (Silesia Vienna) was already Hofer's press spokesman in parliament. State party chairman Alexander Petschnig did not want to give an assessment of the emergence of Blue-Turquoise at the federal level. However, he found the proposal of a bank levy good, so that those who wrote billion-dollar profits would contribute.

After Burgenland Election: Changes in Club Premises

A redistribution of the club premises is likely to take place in the country house, as the FPÖ became the second strongest force in the state election. Currently, the Blues are located on the ground floor, but could in the future take over the much larger offices of the ÖVP on the first floor, parallel to the SPÖ. Hofer said to APA on request: "We believe that it would make sense and are in a good conversation with the President of the State Parliament (Robert Hergovich, note)."

(APA/Red)

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