Austrian chancellor announces he will step down soon as coalition talks fall through

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced that he will step down as talks between his People's Party and the Social Democrats to build a coalition failed to bring success, Report informs via TASS.

"After the end of the talks I will do the following: In the coming days I will step down from the posts of federal chancellor and head of the People’s Party and ensure an orderly transition," he said in a video posted to X.

On September 29, 2024, Austria held parliamentary elections. The Freedom Party of Austria won most of the vote, 29.2%, for the first time in its history.

However, the other winning parties refused to take it on as a coalition partner, so negotiations to form a new government began between the People’s Party, which collected 26.5%, the Social Democrats, with 21% of the vote, and the New Austria and Liberal Forum Party, or NEOS, with 9%.

NEOS was the first to announce its withdrawal from the talks on January 3. The following day, the People’s Party broke off talks with the Social Democrats over approaches to economic issues.