Austrian president asks top three parties to discuss possible coalitions

Elections for the European Parliament take place over the 27 member states of the EU

VIENNA (Reuters) – Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen said on Wednesday he was asking the leaders of the three parties that received the most votes in the country’s parliamentary election last week to hold talks with each other on possible governing coalitions.

Van der Bellen said in a speech that usually the first-placed party – in this case the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) – would be tasked with forming a coalition, but the others say they do not want to govern with it under current circumstances.

No coalition will be workable without at least two of the three participating.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Hugh Lawson)