Austria's president has given the far-right Freedom Party a mandate to form a government

Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen said he had given a mandate to far-right Freedom Party (FPO) leader Herbert Kickl to form a new government.

"I have given him a mandate to enter into negotiations with the People's Party to form a government," van der Bellen said in a televised statement after meeting Kiker on Monday, Reuters reported.

The centre-right People's Party (OVP), Austria's main conservative party and the Freedom Party's only potential coalition partner, has said it is open to talks with Mr Kiker.

On 4 January, former Prime Minister Nehammer resigned after failing to form a centrist coalition with other parties to resist the Freedom Party.

The analysis pointed out that Nehammer's resignation increased the possibility of the People's Party and the Freedom Party alliance. The Liberal Party even accused the People's Party of copying its policies because of the two parties' similar positions on several issues, including immigration. The two parties were in coalition from late 2017 to 2019 until a video scandal involving the leader of the Liberal Party led to the dissolution of the coalition.

Currently, at the state level, the two parties govern together in five of the nine provinces. But at the national level, a realignment between the two parties would make the PP a "junior" coalition partner to the Freedom Party for the first time, making the position of PP leader relatively difficult and unpopular.