STORY: Austrian parties agree to form gov't without far-right Freedom Party
SHOOTING TIME: Feb. 27, 2025
DATELINE: Feb. 28, 2025
LENGTH: 00:01:34
LOCATION: Vienna
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Austrian parliament
2. various of the press conference hosted by the Austrian People's Party, the Social Democratic Party, and the NEOS party

STORYLINE:

The Austrian People's Party, the Social Democratic Party and the NEOS party have agreed to form a coalition government without the far-right Freedom Party.

According to Austrian broadcaster ORF, the new government could be sworn in as early as Monday.

The parties have been negotiating to form a government after Freedom Party-led coalition talks with the center-right People's Party collapsed in mid-February.

In the Austrian parliamentary elections in September 2024, the Freedom Party emerged as the leading party with approximately 29 percent of the vote, followed by the People's Party with 26.3 percent and the Social Democrats with 21.1 percent. NEOS secured the fourth place.

Despite its leading position, the Freedom Party was initially excluded from coalition talks by all major parties.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen first tasked the People's Party with forming a government in October, but three-party negotiations with the Social Democrats and NEOS collapsed in early January. A subsequent attempt at a People's Party-Social Democratic Party coalition also failed. In mid-January, Van der Bellen granted the Freedom Party the mandate to form a government.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Vienna.
(XHTV)