Austria's far-right sets interior ministry as price for joining next coalition

Thomson Reuters

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPO) will only join the next coalition government if it can run the interior ministry, its leader said on Wednesday, following the party's strong showing in a parliamentary election.

The anti-immigrant, anti-Islam FPO won around 26 percent of votes cast in Sunday's election. The conservative People's Party (OVP) won most votes by also taking a hard line on immigration.

Asked if the FPO would stick by its pre-election insistence that it would only join a future coalition if its candidate became interior minister, party leader Heinz-Christian Strache told reporters: "Yes."

"At 26 percent we naturally aim to implement our (FPO) policies in government," he said.

Austria's president will on Friday formally ask Sebastian Kurz, leader of the OVP, the largest party at around 32 percent, to start negotiations on forming a new coalition government.

(Reporting By Shadia Nasralla and Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich; Editing by Gareth Jones)

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