Austrian president recovering after spinal surgery

FILE PHOTO: Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen delivers a statement in Hofburg Palace in Vienna

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria's 80-year-old President Alexander Van der Bellen, who is overseeing coalition talks following September's parliamentary election, is expected to recover by next week after undergoing spinal surgery, his team wrote on social media on Monday.

Chancellor Karl Nehammer will continue to deputise for Van der Bellen until then, his team said in a post on the president's X account.

Van der Bellen's office said on Saturday he would undergo a routine spinal-disc surgery as a problem in that area he had been suffering from since the start of the year had worsened recently.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy, writing by Rachel More, editing by Thomas Seythal)