The coalition talks between the FPÖ and the ÖVP are gaining momentum. After Freedom Party Chairman Herbert Kickl had already sent his colleague Christian Stocker an invitation after the Blue Presidium the day before, the two were able to meet on Wednesday. Substantive discussions will follow on Friday.
On Tuesday evening, the FPÖ presidency unanimously gave the green light for official negotiations with the ÖVP. Immediately afterwards, Kickl called Stocker.
The FPÖ leader also said that a small-scale meeting should take place “immediately”. According to reports, this could happen as early as Wednesday. There was no official confirmation from either party.
Kickl’s core team with German-national influence
When it comes to his team, Kickl, 56, unsurprisingly relies on loyalists. Four of the seven members of the core team are also members of German-national academic associations – which did not bother the Turquoises when the last government was formed with the Blues.
Unlike the lists for the National Council elections, where the FPÖ has focused on gender equality, there is only one woman in the group: 55-year-old lawyer Susanne Fürst.
As party leader, the Villach-born worker’s son Kickl is of course at the head of the negotiating team. Even before the official invitation for negotiations, he made things difficult for the ÖVP and demanded honesty and unity. Kickl wants to become “People’s Chancellor”, but that is not necessarily the case, as he repeatedly emphasizes.
In any case, Kickl does not have to fear new elections if the talks fail, he made it clear. So he could have made it easy for himself in the conversation with the Federal President and chosen the more comfortable route, given his party’s “winning streak” and good poll numbers.
“I trust that the Freedom Party will realize these research results,” the party leader said. “I have chosen the path of public political responsibility.”
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
