Herbert Kickl on his way out of Vienna's Hofburg Palace following talks with Austria's president, Alexander Van der Bellen, earlier this month. | Credit: Joe Klamar / AFP / "Vienna could be about to get its first far-right leader since WWII,

Even so, according to polls, the FPÖ will do still better if snap elections are held. Kronen Zeitung, Austria’s largest-circulation tabloid, published a poll on January 5th that put the FPÖ at 37% of the vote, which would give them around 40% of the seats in parliament. That should focus the minds of the ÖVP ’s negotiators. ■

VIENNA (AP) — Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg will serve as the country's interim leader while the far-right Freedom Party attempts to put together a new coalition government, the president's office said Wednesday.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen has asked the leader of the country's far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) to form a new ruling coalition in what could yield the first far-right-led government in Austria since World War II.

VIENNA - Austrian far-right Freedom Party ... Those efforts collapsed at the weekend, prompting President Alexander van der Bellen to task Kickl with forming a government, giving Kickl a chance ...

Karin Keller-Sutter, is on an official visit to Austria, where she was received by the Austrian President, Alexander Van der Bellen. She attended a ceremony in his honor, followed by a press conference with the host president.

Sutter, who took over the rotating Swiss presidency this year, has made her first official visit abroad as president to Austria. </p

During these “trying times and surprising developments,” the EU should “have trust” in the strength of Austria’s democratic institutions. He added that the rule of law, separation of powers, fundamental rights, and international law “are non-negotiable” in coalition talks.

The resignation of the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, is imminent - although a successor has not yet been officially appointed.

Herbert Kickl, who now has good chances of becoming Austria's next chancellor, has radicalized the FPÖ in recent years. He seems to enjoy his role as the ultimate evil.

Herbert Kickl faces a rocky road to Brussels if the Freedom Party politician is indeed elected as Austria's next chancellor.

The far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) and the conservative People's Party (ÖVP), currently negotiating a coalition government in the Alpine state, are planning massive attacks on the working class and on migrants.