Russia-Ukraine conflict matter of “deep concern,” says Jaishankar
"We are on the side of peace, and a large part of the world thinks similarly to us," said EOM S Jaishankar on Russia-Ukraine matter.
Austrians vote on Sunday in a snap parliamentary election that conservative leader Sebastian Kurz is looking set to win, but he will still need a coalition partner to secure a majority and it is still unclear whom he will pick.
Voting began early in the morning and is due to end in the evening at around 5 pm with the estimated results expected to be released shortly aftermath, reports Efe news.
However, due to the record one million applications for a vote by mail, the results will in principle be missing up to 20 per cent of the total ballots, meaning that the final result will only be declared by Monday.
Advertisement
The polls give former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s party up to 35 per cent of the votes – 3.5 per cent more than it earned in the October 2017 general elections – which would give it 65 of the 183 seats of the Nationalrat, the lower house of Parliament.
Kurz has said he will talk to all parties after the election if he wins. His two most likely options are either to ally with the FPO again or with the Greens and liberal Neos.
A centrist coalition with the Social Democrats is possible but unlikely under their current leadership.
As the campaign wound up last week, the FPO sought to focus voters’ attention on its core issue of migration, railing against immigrants in general and Muslims in particular, rather than addressing recent scandals that have eroded its support.
The widespread assumption among politicians and analysts is that the election will be followed by a long period of coalition talks, meaning the current provisional government of civil servants led by former judge Brigitte Bierlein could remain in place until Christmas or later.
Advertisement
