Leader of the Austrian Neos party, Beate Meinl-Reisinger (pictured), announced on Friday that her party has ended negotiations on joining a governing coalition. Neos has been in talks with the Austrian People’s Party and the Social Democrats ever since the parliamentary elections in late September 2024.
Meinl-Reisinger said "no breakthrough could be achieved" during the negotiations and that the two larger parties "repeatedly rejected" Neos' requests for "fundamental reforms." She claimed that talks even took "steps backward" on issues such as the budget and investments. The Austrian People’s Party and the Social Democrats have a small majority on their own, with a total of 92 seats in the Austrian parliament out of 183. It is currently unclear whether they will attempt a two-party coalition or attempt to form an alliance with the Greens.
