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. ■

Kickl, the leader of Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), is set to take power as the country’s next chancellor in a coalition with the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) after he was asked Monday to form the country’s next government.

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 Two.