Austrian chancellor to remain in government coalition despite his minister's controversial EU vote

Austria Politics (PA)

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said Monday that his conservative Austrian People's Party would remain in the current government coalition with its Green party junior partner even though his environment minister voted in a European Union vote in favor of the so-called Nature Restoration plan that Nehammer has opposed.

The vote by environment minister Leonore Gewessler of the Green party earlier on Monday came after months of domestic political debate and infuriated the senior partner in the coalition government — Nehammer’s conservative Austrian People’s Party — ahead of a national election set for Sept. 29.

Moments before Nehammer's statement Monday, speculation had been growing in Austria about whether he would break up the government.

“The emotion would be there” for an end to the coalition, but "(I had) the responsibility, as federal chancellor, to ensure an orderly path” until the parliamentary elections, Nehammer told journalists Monday night, Austrian public broadcaster ORF reported.

After her vote, Gewesseler wrote on X that “my conscience tells me unmistakably (that) when the healthy and happy life of future generations is at stake, courageous decisions are needed.”

Ahead of the vote, the chancellery said Nehammer informed the Belgian EU presidency that a vote in favor of the plan by Gewessler would be unlawful, the Austria Press Agency reported.

The Nature Restoration plan is part of the EU’s European Green Deal that seeks to establish the world’s most ambitious climate and biodiversity targets and make the bloc the global point of reference on all climate issues.

In the buildup to the EU elections that saw a shift to the right earlier this month, European farmers complained about the many environmental laws governing the way they work, arguing that the rules were harming their livelihoods and strangling them with red tape.