After the failure of his alliance with the far right, the Austrian conservative Sebastian Kurz returns to power in tandem with the Greens and promises to reconcile "the best of both worlds" by "protecting the borders and the climate". Three months after the legislative elections of September 29 won by the outgoing chancellor, Austria will experience an unprecedented alliance between the ÖVP, heavyweight of national politics, and the Die Grünen party.
Several weeks of negotiations
The two parties announced Wednesday evening that they had sealed a coalition agreement after several weeks of negotiations. For the Austrian Greens, this entry into government is a first.
At a press conference in Vienna alongside Werner Kogler, leader of environmentalists, Sebastian Kurz acknowledged that "the negotiations (had) not been easy because the two parties have very different orientations". But "we have succeeded in bringing together the best of both worlds," said the leader of the ÖVP, who defends a hard line on immigration and according to which, "it is possible to protect the climate and the borders". "The task was not easy," also said Kogler, 58, who will become vice-chancellor. He was delighted that the two parties had succeeded in "building bridges" for "the future of Austria", committing to more "social justice" and to important measures for the defense of the environment. .
Above all, Austria will become "a pioneer in the fight against global warming", promised the head of the Greens. The country, populated by 8.9 million inhabitants, will figure with Sweden, Finland, Lithuania and Luxembourg among the EU member states where environmentalists participate in government, in a context where calls to act against climate change is becoming more and more pressing.
Former allied opponents
The Greens, anchored to the left, were staunch opponents of immigration, security and the budgetary choices of the outgoing right / extreme coalition led by Kunz until May. The two new partners thus take "a risky bet" by allying themselves despite "fundamentally different political approaches", this week emphasized the regional daily Tiroler Zeitung .
Forced to scuttle his coalition with the FPÖ, Sebastian Kurz had called early elections which his party had largely won (37.5%). Faced with Social Democrats losing momentum, and an extreme right that has become infrequent and down 10 points in the ballot box, the leader of the right had the choice to turn to environmentalists (fourth with 13.9% of votes) to try to form a majority.
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