New State Coalition Replaces Far Right in Austria Heartland
Social Democrats, conservatives and Greens formed a governing coalition in the Austrian province of Carinthia on Tuesday after an election rout of the far-right Freedom Party in its traditional southern stronghold.
Corruption scandals punished the anti-immigrant Freedom Party in Carinthia, where late leader Joerg Haider had built it into a national political force. Billionaire Frank Stronach’s new eurosceptic party has also sapped its support.
This has clouded prospects for the Freedom Party - which opposes bailing out euro zone laggards and wants a referendum on quitting the 17-member currency bloc - of joining a national coalition after elections due by late September.
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