Vienna, 10 January 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Another leading figure from Austria's centre-right People's Party (ÖVP) has been appointed as the country's acting head of government, amid months of political turmoil resulting from recent elections.

Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen asked Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg to fill the role of chancellor on an interim basis on Friday.

The previous chancellor, Karl Nehammer, who is also from the ÖVP, previously announced his resignation after he failed to form a coalition, three months after parliamentary elections.

The far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) won the elections in autumn, the first time a far-right party has done so there since the Nazi era.

After the centrist parties failed to agree on possible coalitions, FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl was given the mandate to form a government by van der Bellen.

The conservatives had long rejected the idea of working with Kickl. However, after Nehammer's withdrawal, the party has made a significant change of course, and the two parties are in talks.

Schallenberg for his part says he would not want to be part of an FPÖ-led government.

The 55-year-old has been Austria's top diplomat since 2019 – with one brief period at the end of 2021 when he also took over the chancellery for a few weeks during a political transition.

Now he has the task of continuing to preside over the previous cabinet, made up of ministers from the ÖVP and the Greens, on an interim basis.

Photo: MIA archive