Austrian Foreign Minister Temporarily Becomes Chancellor After Failed Coalition Talks

vienna - Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg has become the temporary chancellor of the Alpine country after his party colleague Karl Nehammer stepped down following failed coalition negotiations.

Schallenberg will lead the government until a new coalition is formed. This is not the first time he has taken on this role temporarily, as back in 2021, he was the Austrian leader for two months after Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's departure amidst a corruption scandal.

The Christian-democratic Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) led by Schallenberg attempted to form a coalition with centrist parties, but the attempt failed. Now, the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) will have the opportunity to form a government and is in talks with the ÖVP, the only potential coalition partner. Nehammer had been against forming a coalition with the FPÖ, but he has since been succeeded as party leader by Christian Stocker, who is open to dialogue with the far-right.