Speculation grows that Austrian far-right leader Herbert Kickl will be asked to form a government
Global News
The Freedom Party supports a more 'homogeneous' nation, supports Russia, is critical of Western aid to Ukraine, and wants to bow out a missile defense project launched by Germany.
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen on Sunday announced that he would meet with far-right politician Herbert Kickl as speculation grows that he will ask the Freedom Party leader to form a government.
Van der Bellen made the announcement after meeting with Chancellor Karl Nehammer and others at his presidential palace.
Nehammer has announced his intention to resign after coalition talks between his conservative Austrian People’s Party and the center-left Social Democrats collapsed over the budget.
Nehammer has ruled out working with Kickl, but others within his party are less adamant.
Earlier Sunday, the People’s Party nominated its general secretary, Christian Stocker, as interim leader, but the president said Nehammer would remain chancellor for now.
In the past, Stocker has criticized Kickl, calling him a “security risk” for the country.
In its election program titled “Fortress Austria,” the Freedom Party calls for “remigration of uninvited foreigners,” for achieving a more “homogeneous” nation by tightly controlling borders and suspending the right to asylum via an emergency law.
The Freedom Party also calls for an end to sanctions against Russia, is highly critical of Western military aid to Ukraine and wants to bow out of the European Sky Shield Initiative, a missile defense project launched by Germany. The Freedom Party has also signed a friendship agreement in 2016 with Putin’s United Russia Party that it now claims has expired.
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