Parties agree to form triple coalition in Austria 155 days after elections

Tuesday, March 4, 2025 

Christian Stocker in 2025.
Image: BMEIA/ Michael Gruber.

The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and the liberal New Austria and Liberal Forum (NEOS) party have approved a plan for a triple coalition to form a government after elections in September 2024. The NEOS party were the last to accept the plan for their government, having approved it with a vote share above 94% of the membership this Sunday.

New chancellor Christian Stocker was sworn in on Monday along with most members of the cabinet. The new cabinet has 14 members: 5 ministers and the chancellor from center-right ÖVP, 6 ministers from center-left SPÖ, and 2 from liberal NEOS.

The NEOS party meeting to approve the three-party coalition, held in hybrid format in Vienna on Sunday, included about 2,000 members of the party. Following the meeting, the NEOS leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger said the decision supported liberal democracy.

The government formation process was a long and difficult one, taking 155 days, the longest such timespan in the history of Austria. Because of the exclusion of the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) from the political mainstream, president Alexander Van der Bellen entrusted the ÖVP with the first round of coalition talks after the election, however, the talks collapsed, giving the FPÖ a chance to form the modern Austrian republic's far-right government. FPÖ–ÖVP talks also failed, far-right politics proving unacceptable for the more moderate ÖVP. Today's triple coalition thus averts new elections.

The deal marks the first time NEOS is included in national government of Austria.

Sources

• Nik Martin. "Austria's 3-way coalition gets final vote of approval" — Deutsche Welle, March 3, 2025
• Kristóf Molnár. "Beiktatták az osztrák kormányt, Christian Stocker az új kancellár" — 444.hu, March 3, 2025