Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer says he will step down as coalition talks collapse

euronews (in English)

Coalition talks have dragged on after Austria's main parties refused to work with the leader of the right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ), Herbert Kickl, who came first in September's election with 29.2% of the vote.

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00:00Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer has said he'll resign in the coming days after talks

00:07on forming a new government failed for a second time.

00:10Nehammer said destructive forces in the Social Democrats had gained the upper hand and that

00:15his People's Party wouldn't agree to policies that harm the economy.

00:20Coalition talks between the People's Party, the Social Democrats and NIOS have dragged

00:24on since September.

00:26Those parties refused to work with the right-wing Freedom Party led by Herbert Kickl, who came

00:32first in the general election.

00:34New elections are the likely next step, but whoever heads Austria's next government will

00:38face the challenge of having to save between 18 and 24 billion euros, according to the

00:43EU Commission.

00:45Austria has been in recession for two years, is experiencing rising unemployment and its

00:50budget deficit is currently at 3.7% of GDP, above the EU's limit of 3%.

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