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Austria Bracing For Anti-Migrant Chancellor

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

VIENNA/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Austria’s fiercely anti-migration Freedom Party (FPO) was likely to appoint its first chancellor after being invited by the Alpine nation’s president to explore forming a government in what amounted to a political earthquake in this country of roughly 9 million people.

FPO leader Herbert Kickl was to meet Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen late Monday morning in Vienna, the capital, as efforts to form a centrist coalition collapsed.

With Kickl on his way to take over the next administration, conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer resigned. “Unfortunately, I have to tell you today that the negotiations have ended and will not be continued by the People’s Party,” Nehammer from the conservative People’s Party said in published remarks.

He complained that “destructive forces” in the Social Democratic Party “gained the upper hand,” adding that his People’s Party (OVP) could not agree on a program that “is against economic competitiveness.”

The OVP’s newly-named interim leader, Christian Stocker, said Sunday he had his party’s approval to negotiate toward a coalition led by the FPO, which won more seats than any other party in September’s federal election.

Austria’s shift to the right underscored a broader trend in the European Union, where a growing number of voters blame massive immigration from mainly Muslim nations for the current economic difficulties.

The EU nation borders Hungary, where the long-time rightwing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán erected a massive fence along the border with Serbia to halt back migrants, many of whom fled war, persecution, and poverty.

Nehammer said he would step down as chancellor and party chairman of the OVP in the coming days to enable an “orderly transition.”

He has held both posts since late 2021.