Austria’s unlikely coalition to unveil govt programme

Austria’s conservatives and their Green partners were set to present the government programme of their unprecedented coalition, a plan with right-wing leader Sebastian Kurz’s clear imprimatur that could set a European precedent.

The two parties announced late Wednesday that they had agreed to govern together after key election gains in September following a corruption scandal that broke apart 33-year-old Kurz’s ruling coalition with the far right.

Kurz -- who has styled himself as a tough anti-immigration fighter -- said his People’s Party (OeVP) and the Greens had “succeeded in uniting the best of both worlds” in protracted negotiations aimed at “protecting the climate and borders”.

“Historic accord fixed” ran the Kurier daily’s main headline yesterday, while a column in the left-leaning Standard described the coalition as a “daring experiment” and a “political adventure”.

Papers said the pact bore the conservatives’ stamp, with tabloid Oesterreich billing the OeVP as “powerful as never before”.

It is the Greens’ first entry into the Austrian government at a national level -- and that in the unlikely marriage of conservatives and ecologists.

Observers say Germany and others may follow suit as parties seek to cater to voters’ increasingly populist sentiments as well as worries about climate change amid massive demonstrations by students and others following calls by young activist Greta Thunberg.

In Austria’s September polls, the environment replaced immigration as voters’ top concern, giving the Greens their best-ever result with 13.9 percent.

The OeVP got 37.5 percent as disappointed voters of the scandal-tainted far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) flocked to Kurz’s party.