Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen officially asked Sebastian Kurz to form a new government on 20th October, less than a week after Kurz’s People’s Party (ÖVP) came first in a general election.
Van der Bellen invited Sebastian Kurz to visit him and asked him to put together a coalition.
Kurz accepted the president’s offer and said he was aware of the “great responsibility” that the job brought with it. Kurz, who has served to date as the country’s foreign minister, Tweeted: “I accept this offer with determination and gratitude toward the voters.”
He added that he was going to talk to all parties in the parliament, and added that he “might even start today”.
To form his coalition, only two of Austria’s parliamentary parties, the Social Democrats (SPO) and FPO, have enough seats to give Kurz a majority if they go into coalition with the OVP.