Austrian Chancellor Urges Far-Right Coalition Formation

Chancellor Karl Nehammer of Austria called on President Alexander Van der Bellen to assign the winning far-right Freedom Party the task of forming a coalition after their victory in Sunday's parliamentary election. Nehammer emphasized the tradition of granting election winners the responsibility of coalition talks.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has urged President Alexander Van der Bellen to formally task the far-right Freedom Party with forming a coalition following their win in Sunday's parliamentary election.

Nehammer highlighted that it is a 'good tradition' for the election winner to be granted the responsibility of holding coalition talks with other parties. His stance comes after a leadership meeting of his People's Party, which reaffirmed their backing of him as the party leader.

President Van der Bellen should clarify the next steps, Nehammer added, indicating the importance of respecting electoral traditions and ensuring a clear political direction.

(With inputs from agencies.)