Reception at the Hofburg

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After a handshake and posing for the photographers, it was already time to go behind the famous red wallpaper door.(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl met with Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen at the Hofburg on Friday. Before the meeting, Kickl said that he had "positive expectations" of the conversation. There were no further statements after the one-hour one-on-one meeting.

Naturally, there was a large crowd of journalists and press photographers. After the greeting, Kickl and Van der Bellen posed for a few photos. A good-humored Federal President joked: "As if you had never seen us before."

The Federal President opened the series of talks with the leaders of the parliamentary parties.(Bild: APA/AFP/JOE KLAMAR)

In the run-up to the meeting, Herbert Kickl emphasized that he would build on common ground with Alexander Van der Bellen in his talks with the Federal President.(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

Van der Bellen speaks with all party leaders
The head of state now wants to hold talks with the leaders of all parties - as is customary after a National Council election. Federal Chancellor and ÖVP leader Karl Nehammer and SPÖ leader Andreas Babler will follow on Monday. The following day, the last talks are scheduled with NEOS leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger and Green Party leader Werner Kogler. 

Difficult relationship between Kickl and Van der Bellen
The smiling faces and friendly words at the beginning of their meeting do not hide the fact that the relationship between the Federal President and the blue frontman is a rather difficult one. The rift between the two occurred in 2019. The Federal President dismissed Kickl - at the request of then Chancellor Sebastian Kurz - as Minister of the Interior. Never before had a minister been removed from office in the Second Republic.

Five years later, Van der Bellen is now supposed to give the FPÖ leader, of all people, whom he kicked out of the coalition on edge, the government mandate. Kickl, in turn, has not only once sharply criticized Van der Bellen, whom he once described as "senile" or a "mummy". The FPÖ leader wants to comment on the meeting on Saturday morning.

It was Van der Bellen's third appearance after the National Council elections, following a speech on election Sunday and the symbolic resignation of the government on Wednesday. During the meeting on Wednesday, at which he also entrusted the government with the continuation of the administration, the Federal President announced that he would first hold talks with all chairmen - "with the necessary calm and in the necessary depth".