Austria’s anti-immigrant Freedom Party crept closer to appointing its first chancellor after receiving an invitation by the nation’s president to discuss forming a government.

Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl will meet Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen late Monday morning in Vienna after efforts to form a centrist coalition collapsed, prompting conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer to resign.

The newly named interim leader of the People’s Party, Christian Stocker, said on Sunday that he had his group’s approval to negotiate toward a coalition led by the Freedom Party, which won more seats than any other party in September’s federal election.

“The voices within the People’s Party that rule out a collaboration with a Freedom Party led by Herbert Kickl have significantly moderated,” Van der Bellen said in a televised statement on Sunday. He plans to name an interim chancellor in the next week.

The developments suggest a government led by Kickl is now the most likely outcome. A former interior minister, Kickl, 56, would be the first Freedom Party chancellor in Austria’s post-World War Two history.

Despite the right-wing party’s electoral win, Van der Bellen had decided not to give Kickl a mandate to form a government, as no other parties had been ready to support his candidacy.

Instead, the president sought to facilitate a centrist coalition including the conservatives, the Social Democrats and the liberal NEOS. Those talks fell apart on Friday amid intractable differences over policy priorities.

A Freedom Party-led government would bring a pro-Russian, anti-immigrant and climate-skeptic group into power in the Central European nation of about 9 million people. Kickl also aggressively opposed a coronavirus vaccine mandate during the pandemic, and supported far-right activists promoting the mass deportation of immigrants.

“We bear no responsibility for wasted time, chaotic conditions and the enormous erosion of trust,” Kickl said in a statement on Facebook, adding that he would make no further public comment until after his meeting with Van der Bellen. “Clearly, the Freedom Party has been and is the only stable point in Austrian politics.”

Kickl is a divisive figure in Austria, polling as one of the least-liked politicians while at the same time leading his party to the cusp of victory. In the past, he’s publicly referred to Van der Bellen, 80, as a “senile mummy.” When he served as interior minister, some foreign intelligence agencies stopped sharing information because of their level of mistrust.

For the conservatives, for decades Austria’s dominant political force, Stocker’s about-face is an admission of its dwindling support and Nehammer’s failure to restore popularity following the resignation of Sebastian Kurz in 2021. Powerful provincial leaders and a faction of industrialists had also pushed for aligning with the far right.

“Since yesterday, the situation looks different,” Stocker said on Sunday. “It is therefore not about Herbert Kickl or me, but about the fact that this country needs a stable government right now and we cannot keep losing time in election campaigns.”

A new government will face the task of reviving an economy in crisis, with years of rapid wage growth and surging energy costs eroding the nation’s competitiveness. After two years of economic contraction, Austria will also need to approve billions of euros in budget consolidating measures to avoid European Union penalties.

(Adds statement from Freedom Party leader in ninth paragraph, background on conservatives in tenth.)

Austria’s nationalist Freedom Party crept closer to power on Sunday after receiving an invitation by the nation’s president to discuss leading a government.

Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl will meet Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen on Monday in Vienna after efforts to form a centrist coalition collapsed, prompting conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer to resign.

The newly named interim leader of the People’s Party, Christian Stocker, said on Sunday that he had his group’s approval to negotiate toward a coalition led by the Freedom Party, which won more seats than any other party in September’s federal election.

“The picture has emerged that the voices within the People’s Party that rule out a collaboration with a Freedom Party led by Herbert Kickl have significantly moderated,” Van der Bellen said in a televised statement. He plans to name an interim chancellor in the next week.

The developments suggest a government led by Kickl is now the most likely outcome. A former interior minister, Kickl, 56, would be the first Freedom Party chancellor in Austria’s post-World War history.

Despite the right-wing party’s electoral win, Van der Bellen had decided not to hand Kickl a mandate to form a government, as no other parties had been ready to support his candidacy.

Instead, the president sought to facilitate a centrist coalition including the conservatives, the Social Democrats and the liberal NEOS. Those talks fell apart on Friday amid intractable differences over policy priorities.

A Freedom Party-led government would bring a pro-Russian, anti-immigrant and climate-skeptic group into power in the Central European nation. Kickl also harshly opposed a coronavirus vaccine mandate during the pandemic, and supported far-right activists promoting the mass deportation of immigrants.

“Since yesterday, the situation looks different,” Stocker said on Sunday. “It is therefore not about Herbert Kickl or me, but about the fact that this country needs a stable government right now and we cannot keep losing time in election campaigns.”

A new government will face the task of reviving an economy in crisis, with years of rapid wage growth and surging energy costs eroding the nation’s competitiveness. Austria will also need to approve billions of euros in budget consolidating measures to avoid European Union penalties.

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