Austria's far-right leader announces he had reached preliminary agreement to reduce country's budget deficit
Date
1/14/2025 7:43:26 AM
(MENAFN) Austria's far-right leader, Herbert Kickl, and his potential coalition partners announced on Monday that they had reached a preliminary agreement to reduce the country's budget deficit, a significant step in forming Austria's first far-right-led government since World War II. Kickl, head of the Freedom Party, which won Austria’s parliamentary elections in September, was tasked with forming a government with the conservative Austrian People’s Party. This coalition formation came after long talks between the two parties and other major groups collapsed, primarily due to disagreements over public finance restructuring.
The parties revealed that they had saved approximately 6.3 billion euros ($6.5 billion) this year, which would reduce Austria’s budget deficit below the EU’s 3 percent threshold. Kickl emphasized that this reduction was achieved without imposing new taxes, but through measures targeting tax loopholes, corporate privileges, spending cuts in ministries, and ending excessive subsidies. However, a full financial package has not yet been finalized. Kickl described the achievement as a result of three days of intense negotiations, contrasting it with the previous failure of traditional parties to reach an agreement in over 100 days.
Despite the progress, forming a government could take weeks or even months, and success is not guaranteed. In the meantime, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg assumed the role of interim chancellor after Karl Nehammer resigned due to his inability to form a new coalition. Schallenberg, who was traveling to Brussels on Monday to meet with senior EU officials, stressed Austria’s commitment to being a strong and reliable partner in the EU. However, he made it clear that he would not remain in the government under Kickl's leadership and could not speak for the potential new coalition.
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