The leader of the anti-immigration, pro-Russia Freedom Party has been given the chance to try to form a government after months of coalition talks among mainstream parties collapsed.

He is so abrasive that he has one of Austria's lowest personal approval ratings, but far-right chief Herbert Kickl's strategic cunning helped his party to its first ever national election win and he now has a chance to become its first chancellor.

Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he’ll step down as head of government and chairman of the conservative People’s Party after failing to form a coalition government.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen has asked the leader of the country's far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) to form a new ruling coalition in what could yield the first far-right-led government in Austria since World War Two.

The collapse underscores the difficulty of forming stable governments in Europe, where the far right is on the rise, but many parties are loath to partner with them.

Austrian Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl is meeting the country’s president as expectations mount that he will be tasked with trying to form a new government, which would be the first led by the fa

Austria's ruling conservatives picked Secretary-General Christian Stocker as interim successor to Chancellor Karl Nehammer, Austrian media reported on Sunday, after Nehammer quit as his attempts to form a coalition government without the far right fell apart.

Austria's conservatives said Sunday they were ready to start negotiations with the far-right Freedom party (FPOe) to form a new government, a policy U-turn after coalition talks with two centrist parties failed.