Recently, the media reported that the Austrian People's Party, the Social Democratic Party and the New Austrian Party announced on the same day that they had reached an agreement on the formation of a three-party coalition government. The agreement still needs to be approved by their respective parties, and the new government may be sworn in as early as March 3. It is expected that the leader of the People's Party, Stocker, will become the new Austrian Prime Minister.

On February 27, 2025, local time, in Vienna, Austria, Andreas Babler, leader of the Austrian Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), Christian Stocker, leader of the Austrian People's Party (OeVP), and Beate Mainl-Reisinger, leader of the NEOS party, held a press conference to announce the agreement on a new coalition government. Visual China Picture

Austria's cabinet formation took five months, excluding the largest party in parliament, the far-right Freedom Party.

According to Reuters on February 27, this is the longest time since World War II for Austria to form a government, and it is also the first time that a three-party ruling coalition has appeared. The new government is expected to be sworn in as early as March 3.

In September 2024, Austria held a national parliamentary election. The Liberal Party won about 30% of the support and became the largest party for the first time, but it did not have more than half of the seats. The center-right People's Party ranked second, and the center-left Social Democratic Party ranked third. The three parties in the new government tried to form a government but failed. The Liberal Party then got the opportunity to negotiate a government, but it also ended in failure. In January this year, the then leader of the People's Party and Prime Minister Nehammer resigned due to the failure of the government negotiations.

Stocker said at a press conference on the 27th: "What we have experienced may be the most difficult government negotiations in Austrian history."

The leaders of the three parties also submitted a governing program of about 200 pages. The content shows that the new government will take a tougher stance on immigration and adjust the budget to avoid triggering the EU's fiscal deficit procedure. According to polls, the economy and immigration are two issues that Austrians are worried about.

In terms of specific division of labor, the People's Party will be responsible for defense and interior departments, the Social Democratic Party will be responsible for finance and justice departments, and the New Austrian Party will manage education and foreign affairs departments. The ministerial candidates will be further announced on the 28th. There are still differences within the Social Democratic Party on the allocation of positions. The leaders of the three parties said that everything is on the right track.

But the new ruling coalition will face pressure. The New York Times quoted Laurenz Ennser-Jedenastik, a professor of political science at the University of Vienna, as saying that the parties in the new government will face differences such as national debt. The only factor that links these parties together is that "the instability of the ruling coalition will benefit other parties."

Regarding the success of the three-party cabinet formation, the leader of the Liberal Party, Kickel, posted on his personal social platform "X" (formerly Twitter) that "this is a loser alliance" and called for an early general election. Polls show that if the general election is held, the support rate of the Liberal Party may increase further than last September. Reuters quoted an analysis that the new government needs to achieve more results, otherwise it will be difficult to survive the next five years of its ruling term.