Confidential protocols from the Austrian coalition negotiations between the right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ) and the Conservatives (ÖVP) have been leaked to the press.
The 223-page document showed significant differences between the two potential partners in government.
Especially contentious was the subgroup on foreign policy and European Union matters where more than half of the proposals were marked red – meaning they will have to be decided bilaterally between the party leaders Herbert Kickl (FPÖ) and Christian Stocker (ÖVP).
An anonymous ÖVP source told Austrian media outlet Die Presse on February 9 that the FPÖ was negotiating on foreign policy “as if they were at a Patriots [for Europe] congress” in the European Parliament.
According to the source, the parties could not even agree on a title for the EU policy chapter of the future coalition agreement, with FPÖ preferring “sovereignty instead of centralism” while ÖVP advocated for “subsidiarity as basic principle”.
Many contentious points concerned the treatment of illegal immigrants.
The FPÖ demanded push-backs at the EU’s borders, a suspension of the right to asylum and a cancellation of the UN refugee pact.
Moreover, the right-wingers wanted to reduce healthcare for asylum seekers to a bare minimum, scrapping access to dentures and artificial joints. All these demands were reportedly “no-goes” for the Conservative ÖVP.
Another area of disagreement regarded policy on Russia. The FPÖ said it would like to review the sanctions on Russia and negotiate “Austria-specific exemptions”, while ÖVP said it wanted to continue working “in harmony” with other EU member states.
The Conservatives would like a formal clause that the EU flag would continue to fly outside Austrian public buildings. That was as reportedly the EU flag was removed from the parliament’s reception parlour when the its president Walter Rosenkranz (FPÖ) welcomed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as a guest in November 2024.
Foreign policy on defence was another controversial point. The FPÖ said it wanted to leave the missile defence co-operation “Sky Shield”, which Austria joined in 2023.
Furthermore, the right-wingers demanded Austria end its co-operation agreement with NATO as a way to stress the country’s neutrality.
The FPÖ also called for a formal agreement that decisions of international courts – such as by the European Court of Justice or the European Court of Human Rights – be “interpreted as restrictively as possible and implemented as late as possible”. That was something the ÖVP did not want to agree to, according to the document.
Even areas where the ÖVP made bold promises during its election campaign were apparently disputed – such as the fight against political Islam.
The FPÖ wanted to ban the construction of minarets and strike a paragraph from the penal code that criminalises “disparagement of religious teachings”. The Conservatives reportedly opposed both.
In reaction to the leak, both parties stressed that the protocol was several days old. Reportedly it showed the state of negotiations as of February 4.
Both FPÖ and ÖVP added that since then some issues could be resolved and that further compromises were expected to be found in the coming rounds of talks.
