"Krone" commentary

The president must pull the cart out of the mud

Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen is once again challenged by the current government crisis.(Bild: AFP)

The blue-black cart - it seems to have completely lost its way. The coalition negotiators have become entrenched in their positions, you could even say they are stuck in the mud. They are accusing each other - probably not without justification from their respective points of view - of no longer moving.

The mud-slinging began to escalate during the round of negotiations with Herbert Kickl and Christian Stocker on Tuesday. This was the first time the division of ministries was discussed. Kickl presented a list which the black side did not regard as a division but as an allocation of ministries.

The two sides parted on unfriendly terms and then covered themselves with mailings, postings and emails. Herbert Kickl left no doubt that the FPÖ insisted on the Ministry of the Interior, the EU agendas in the Chancellery and the Ministry of Finance. The ÖVP was "surprised" by this public clarity. And sent a non-public message to the Blue Party about the conditions under which talks could continue. But trust - it seems to have been destroyed. If it ever existed.

Klaus Herrmann, Managing Editor-in-Chief of the "Krone" analyzes the situation between the FPÖ and ÖVP.(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

Following a meeting between Herbert Kickl and the Federal President (Christian Stocker had already been to the Hofburg the day before), the blue and black parties are now talking again - while the Federal President, who had promised to inform the Austrians if there was anything new, remains monosyllabic. But there is probably simply nothing new ...

Alexander Van der Bellen, who failed to commission election winner Herbert Kickl to form a government in the fall, must now pull the cart out of the mud. In the truest sense of the word, he is now in the draw.