Austria’s far-right party has been tasked with forming a coalition

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen instructed the leader of the far-right Freedom Party, Herbert Kikl, to form a coalition government.

If the talks are successful, Austria will for the first time have a government led by the Eurosceptic, Russia-friendly Freedom Party (FPO).

The FPO has been in power before, but only as a junior coalition partner.

The party came out on top in September’s election with about 29% of the vote, but was later ousted.

President Van der Bellen angered the FPO by not instructing it to form a government immediately after the election.

At that time, the leaders of all other parties ruled out the possibility of an alliance with Kikl.

In October, Van der Bellen conceded to the conservative People’s Party (OVP), which came second in the election with 26%, the task of creating a coalition.

The former leader of the OVP, Chancellor Karl Nehhammer, called Kikl a conspiracy theorist and a security threat.

But Nehammer’s attempts to create a three-party, and then a two-party centrist coalition collapsed this weekend.

He then resigned, and new Conservative leader Christian Stocker said his party would be open to talks with Kickle.

President Van der Bellen now instructed Kiklu to form a government.

The move is a sharp U-turn for the president, a former Green Party leader who has long criticized the FPO and expressed reservations about Kikl as chancellor.

Van der Bellen said on Monday that he did not take “this step lightly.” He said he would “continue to ensure that the principles and norms of our constitution are properly followed and enforced.”

Van der Bellen has repeatedly said in recent months that he will remain vigilant to ensure the preservation of the “cornerstones of democracy,” including human rights, independent media and Austria’s membership of the European Union.

The Freedom Party and the OVP agree on a number of issues and both take a tough stance on migration.

However, they faced the EU and the opposition Freedom Party to help Ukraine in its war against Russia.

There is no timeline for the coalition talks, which usually take two to three months, but could be sooner.

If the negotiations fail, early elections are possible. Polls show that support for the Freedom Party has grown since September.