Austria's conservative-far right government to be sworn in Dec. 20

VIENNA – Austria's new conservative-far right government is likely to be sworn in on Dec. 20, a source with direct knowledge of the coalition talks said on Friday.

Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, whose conservative People's Party (OVP) won a parliamentary election on Oct. 15 but fell short of a majority, has been in coalition talks with Heinz-Christian Strache's Freedom Party (FPO).

The anti-immigration and Islam-critical Freedom Party is allied with France's Front National and Germany's AfD. It last entered federal government in 2000 and currently rules in coalition with centrists in two of Austria's provinces.