Austria's coalition talks falter due to Eurofighter purchase probe

Austria's coalition talks were stranded after the outgoing conservatives protested against a probe into the former government's purchase of jet fighters, the Austria Press Agency (APA) reported on Tuesday.

Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said his People's Party of Austria (OeVP) had halted the talks with the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPOe), who had won a narrow victory in the Oct. 1 parliamentary elections but fallen short of a parliamentary majority.

The OeVP's suspension came after the parliament voted during its inaugural session on Monday to set up a committee to probe the 2-billion-euro (about 2.5 billion U.S. dollars) purchase of 18 Eurofighter aircraft by Schuessel's government in 2002.

The Social Democrats said the purchase, from the Eurofighter consortium led by the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS), was too expensive and the contract should be scrapped.

However, vowing to go ahead with the purchase, Schuessel said the Social Democrats had undermined the trust needed for coalition talks by voting for the probe.

His party would continue to suspend the talks as long as the Social Democrats were against the purchase, the chancellor added.

If the impasse was not resolved, fresh elections were likely to be held, which neither party wanted since they would risk losses in a new vote.

In the newly-elected 183-seat National Council, the SPOe has 68 seats, the OeVP 66, the leftist Greens Party and the rightist Freedom Party of Austria (FPOe) both 21, and another co-ruling party, the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZOe), seven.

Source: Xinhua