02. 10. 08. - 16:00

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02. 10. 08. - 16:00

Strache fears cold shoulder coalition

FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache has predicted another grand coalition as the next Austrian government.

Strache met on Thursday with President Heinz Fischer in the Hofburg in one of a series of meetings with party leaders that Fischer is hosting in the wake of the September 28 general election.

After the meeting, Strache told journalists that he doubted that either the SPÖ or the ÖVP would end its policy of rejection of the FPÖ in a governing coalition.

Continuation of their common policy would therefore mean another grand coalition between the two largest parties since none other would be possible without the FPÖ, which finished third in the general election.

Strache reiterated that his party was ready to participate in a governing coalition if the two largest parties changed their policy on the FPÖ but rejected the possibility of secret negotiations with either.

The FPÖ leader also demanded that new ÖVP leader Josef Pröll apologise to him for having called him a hooligan. An apology, Strache stressed, was a pre-condition for FPÖ cooperation with the ÖVP.

Strache also reiterated his rejection of reunification with fellow right-wing party BZÖ, which split from the FPÖ in 2005.

Strache claimed that the BZÖ had been "the invention" of the ÖVP and that, if any reunification occurred, it would be that of the ÖVP and the BZÖ.

John Morris

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