Austria Could Get a Far-Right Chancellor. Here’s What to Know.

The president of Austria on Monday gave Herbert Kickl, the outspoken leader of the Alpine country’s far-right Freedom Party, the task of trying to form a government coalition, three months after the party won the most votes in a general election.

“Mr. Kickl is confident that he can find viable solutions in the context of government negotiations, and he wants this responsibility,” President Alexander Van der Bellen said during a five-minute speech after meeting with Mr. Kickl.

The president’s request starts a process that could make Mr. Kickl, an anti-immigrant firebrand who has vowed to make the country a “fortress,” Austria’s first far-right chancellor later this year.

What led to this?

The Freedom Party finished first in the Sept. 29 election, with nearly 30 percent of the vote, but was well short of a majority. Despite the victory at the ballot box, it initially looked as if the party, founded by ex-Nazis in the 1950s, would not be part of the new government because mainstream parties refused to work with Mr. Kickl, whom they called a danger to democracy.

Karl Nehammer, the chancellor and head of the conservative Austrian People’s Party, which finished in second place with 26.5 percent, was tasked first by President Van der Bellen with trying to form a government. Chancellor Nehammer reached out to the center-left Social Democrats and the upstart Neos party to try to reach an agreement for a coalition government. But they were unable to bridge their differences over core budget issues, and late last week, first Neos, then the Social Democrats pulled out of the talks.