ÖVP, SPÖ and Neos agree
Austria gets “Zuckerl” coalition
Updated on 02/27/2025 – 9:56 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
Austria receives a new government coalition. ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS have agreed.
Around five months after the election in Austria, the conservative ÖVP, the Social Democratic SPÖ and the liberal Neos agreed on the formation of a government. This was announced by a spokesman for the ÖVP. The government program is entitled “Do the right thing now. For Austria.” Details are to be presented at a press conference at 11 a.m.
It was already the second attempt for a triple coalition that was previously unique in Austria. The agreement is subject to reservation. The NEOS still have to obtain the consent of their party base. That should happen on Sunday.
At around 150 days it has never taken so long in Austria until a government was formed. ÖVP boss Christian Stocker is to lead the alliance as a chancellor, SPÖ boss Andreas Babler takes over the position of the Vice Chancellor.
In September, the right FPÖ won the parliamentary election. ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS then wanted to forge a center coalition and keep the right-wing populists away from the Chancellery. But the attempt failed in January when the NEOS got out from the negotiations. Shortly afterwards, discussions also failed between the previous Chancellor Party ÖVP and the SPÖ via a coalition of two.
As a result, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen finally commissioned FPÖ boss Herbert Kickl with the formation of government. He wanted to work with the ÖVP. But he also failed. His EU-critical and tendency to Russia-friendly right-wing populists could not agree on a foreign policy line with the pro-European conservatives. There was also great distrust between the two parties.
In order to end the political crisis, van der Bellen warned to protect the state rush and the consensus of political forces in Austria.
Under the growing pressure of the poor economic situation and the large budget deficit, the ÖVP and SPÖ once again took negotiations and initially agreed on a double budget for 2025 and 2026.
The name “Zuckerl coalition” is derived from the Austrian word for candy, “Zuckerl”, and refers to the colors of the parties involved: turquoise (ÖVP), red (SPÖ) and pink (Neos).
