Austria: the Carnival Coalition comes to town

After the recent failure of coalition talks between Austria’s conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) and demagogic right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ), the ÖVP again approached the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the liberal Neos to revive talks of a three-way coalition, which had initially failed in early January after the elections late September. This coalition – which has aptly been formed just in time for Austria’s Carnival celebrations – has now been sworn in, with the ÖVP's Christian Stocker becoming the new Chancellor.

We publish below an editorial initially written for the paper of the Revolutionary Communist Party – the Austrian section of the Revolutionary Communist International – shortly after the announcement of this ‘Carnival Coalition’.

After the initial failure of the three-party coalition (ÖVP, SPÖ, Neos) came the failure of the FPÖ-ÖVP coalition. Now the ÖVP, SPÖ and Neos have regrouped, with the Greens signalling their parliamentary support. As this newspaper goes to press, we know that the next government will be the largest since 1983, with 14 ministers and seven state secretary positions being handed out to senior politicians from the three parties. A full feeding trough of lucrative cabinet appointments is the basis of every democratic compromise! 

The government’s programme will be announced after the cabinet appointments, which is only logical. You have to understand: in the coming years, more than ever before, government programmes will be dictated by crises.

When asked about the “overall picture conveyed by politics in Austria” for the television channel Puls 4, 58 percent of those polled responded that it is ‘not good enough’ and nobody responded with ‘very good’. One passer-by interviewed in the street by Austrian national broadcaster ORF conveyed the prevailing mood more clearly: “If you put all the politicians in a black sack and hit it with a club, you wouldn't smack the wrong one of them.”

However, it would be wrong to hold merely the politicians responsible. Capitalism is an absolute obstacle to the advancement of humanity, and anyone who defends it is going to find themselves tarred by crisis. The ruling class – in all its variety – has no plan, has no control over the crises, markets or wars, and has no idea what it should do. Trump is set on making deals that are good for American capitalism, and the capitalists in Europe are trembling at the prospect. 

Austria is a provincial state and can therefore only produce policies of a provincial calibre. Yet it faces big problems: Austria's industry is experiencing the biggest slump in the whole of Europe, having fallen by another 10 percent last year. Raiffeisenbank is in danger of losing its highly profitable Russian subsidiary, and it is completely unclear where – and at what cost – Austria will source the gas to fill its storage facilities this summer.

Why did the FPÖ-ÖVP government fail?

The proposed FPÖ-ÖVP budget, which was quickly reported to Brussels, revealed a hasty willingness to reach an agreement between the two parties at the beginning of January. More than two thirds of the €6.4 billion of cuts in the 2025 budget were to be paid for by the masses. 

The leitmotif of the failed FPÖ-ÖVP agreement is xenophobia / Image: C.Stadler Bwag, Wikimedia Commons

The rest of their plans were documented on a further 220 pages outlining the political lines of agreement for their coalition. The leitmotif of the failed FPÖ-ÖVP agreement is xenophobia. All political issues were dealt with from the perspective of ‘shared national values’ (Leitkultur), the restriction of democratic rights, and hostility to Islam. The parties’ advocacy of a strict gender binary, the use of cash, strengthening the Alpine mass tourism industry, and constructing a skiing museum were just as unsurprising as their strong support for national defence – both financially and “spiritually”. Both parties also emphatically defended business-friendly measures, such as a reduction in payroll taxes, lower corporation tax, and “help instead of punishment” for businesses. 

Political disagreement arose, however, on the question of the EU. The FPÖ wanted an emphatically nationalistic foreign policy which, among other things, aimed to stymie approval of EU initiatives. In other words, Orban-style blackmail diplomacy. Such pomposity was not welcome in Germany, however, where the bogey of “Austrian conditions” has been raised, and what it would mean if such conditions also arose in Germany. The German ruling class’ displeasure was certainly also spelt out to the ÖVP behind the scenes.

The FPÖ-ÖVP coalition, however, did not fail over conflicting ideals on Europe, the rule of law, or their views on broadcasting regulations. Rather, it failed because of the question of power: which party controls the security apparatus of the police and intelligence services? The Kurz-Strache (ÖVP-FPÖ) government collapsed over this question in 2019 and now it has also brought down the proposed Kickl-Stocker coalition. 

The need for the ÖVP to keep ‘sensitive issues’ entirely under its own control has not become any less important since 2019. Political investigator Peter Pilz has argued in the bourgeois media – including in Der Spiegel and on the national public broadcaster ORF– that the late head of the judiciary Christian Pilnacek (1963-2023) could hardly have died as a result of suicide, as official records state. To put this in context: Pilnacek was responsible for all important corruption files in Austria – from the 2003 Eurofighter bribery case to the scandal surrounding disgraced real estate magnate René Benko.

It is not ‘flagship projects’ that are the central question of every government formation, but the question of their actual control and power over the state apparatus. And from that point of view, the ruling class would prefer outsiders like the FPÖ are kept as far away as possible from the most sensitive instruments of the state, that possess all the dirty secrets of the establishment.

SPÖ to the rescue

In January 2025, the ÖVP used up all its political options for a possible coalition (Greens, SPÖ, Neos, FPÖ), but the SPÖ's convulsively ‘outstretched hand’ has now returned to save the morally and politically bankrupt ÖVP. The character of the Carnival Coalition is shown by the fact that the first decision made by the ÖVP and SPÖ was to ratify the FPÖ-ÖVP budget proposal. 

The SPÖ's convulsively ‘outstretched hand’ has now returned to save the morally and politically bankrupt ÖVP / Image: Team Basis, Flickr

“This disastrous budget will be financed by the masses, pensioners will be fleeced and impoverished women will be punished once again.” This was SPÖ leader Andreas Babler's assessment of this budget on 22 January. This is precisely the budget that his party has now agreed to support!

Although nothing has changed, in the eyes of the SPÖ parliamentary leadership, the fleecing of the masses is now ‘fair’ because it has been agreed that banks’ profits (currently €10 billion per year) will now be reduced by three percent for two years. Parliament is a big stage, but the working class has no place on it.

More debt for war?

As soon as the ÖVP’s flirtation with the FPÖ came to an end, the national debt immediately made the news once again thanks to the ‘Parliamentary Budget Service’. Austria took on €19.1 billion in new debt in 2024 and, we are told, the markets are watching the country closely. It will be clear by May that this year's cuts will not be enough to push the deficit below the 3 percent mark. This is for the simple reason that economic growth will not reach the 0.6 percent currently forecast. Austrian industry is experiencing a deepening crisis that will only be compounded by further crises globally.

In order to accelerate Europe's military build-up, Brussels, Berlin and Paris are currently working on easing the EU debt limits / Image: Doppeladler, Wikimedia Commons

In order to accelerate Europe's military build-up, Brussels, Berlin and Paris are currently working on easing the EU debt limits. Austria's ‘experts’ immediately understood the implications of this, and now Gabriel Felbermayr from the Austrian Institute of Economic Research has suddenly discovered that the three percent deficit limit “lacked any economic logic”. Der Standard has seconded this view: “In fact, there are no studies which show that it is economically better to incur less than three percent in new debt.” A new day, a new truth! There is no independent ‘science’ for these so-called experts, only class interests. 

In inflating the war machine, the bourgeoisie intends to invest in barbarism in order to pump up their profits. The reformists are their sad sidekicks in this endeavour. Everything that makes life civilised and beautiful for young people and the working class will be put under permanent financial pressure, as Neos have promised. Meanwhile, however, the government will take on more debt to meet the needs and interests of the capitalists. This sums up the financial policy of the coming federal government.

Fight for communism!

The FPÖ, it would seem, wants to replace the Austrian Second Republic with the Volkskanzlerschaft of Herbert Kickl. [Note: Kickl has demagogically promised to be a ‘People’s Chancellor’ or Volkskanzler, a term used by the chancellorship under fascism.] Leaving the appalling linguistic ambiguity of Kickl to one side, the main division in the Austrian ruling class is between an orientation of ‘Austro-protectionism’ and ‘Austro-militarism’, versus the pursuit of the very same policies, but within the legal framework of the EU and its institutions. For the time being, the FPÖ is back on the opposition bench, but this is only a pause for breath.

The Carnival Coalition will fail to spark any new social optimism. This will further strengthen the FPÖ as the only opposition force in parliament. Only one thing can turn this dynamic into its absolute opposite: the class struggle in the streets, universities, schools and workplaces. The tougher, more organised and more bold, the better.

Only fear of social revolution will put a stop to rearmament, politically disarm the demagogues, and end the growing mood of political alienation and pessimism. The involvement of the reformists in government is a problem for the working class. The SPÖ in government will not prevent the aims of the bourgeoisie from being fulfilled, but only hinder the resistance of the working class against them. 

There is no doubt that the youth and the working class will ultimately succeed in breaking through this blockade. We revolutionary communists must grow stronger to ensure that the impending catastrophe becomes the starting point for a successful social revolution. The doors are open for each and every serious class fighter to join our international party.