After the SPÖ crisis meeting on Sunday, the government partners have spoken up. Thomas Stelzer (ÖVP, Upper Austria) declared after the video conference of the ÖVP state governors on Monday that the situation was not conducive to the stability of the federal government and that the government must remain able to work. Markus Wallner (ÖVP), chair of the Conference of State Governors, had warned before Babler’s decision that the debate does not help the coalition (Salzburg24). Beate Meinl-Reisinger (NEOS) criticized the transition period of several months, and ÖVP and NEOS reaffirmed the government program (trend.at, news.at). Stocker continued to rule out early elections.
The coalition of ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS needs all three partners to pass laws. As long as the SPÖ leadership is unsettled, any reform dispute can turn into a power struggle. That the ÖVP-led states are stepping in shows that the pressure is not coming only from Vienna.
For you, this initially means only that planned laws continue to be negotiated. Concrete consequences arise only if projects such as the social assistance reform fail or are postponed.
ÖVP and NEOS see the government’s mandate as unchanged; the SPÖ’s personnel questions must not paralyze the work.
Critics point to the SPÖ’s weakness in polls and to ÖVP forces who want a tougher line (profil); this is the account of a single outlet.
Yesterday was about Babler’s withdrawal, today it is about whether the government still has momentum. Watch whether ÖVP and NEOS set concrete deadlines for reforms and how the SPÖ dual leadership presents itself as the social assistance negotiations continue.
ORF, profil, Salzburg24, trend.at, Exxpress (Oct. 5–6, 2026)
After the SPÖ shake-up, ÖVP state governors and NEOS call for stability in the government
New since yesterday: the ÖVP state governors consulted by video conference, and NEOS leader Meinl-Reisinger criticizes the long transition period. Chancellor Stocker sticks to the “autumn of results.”
After the SPÖ agreed on a staggered withdrawal by Andreas Babler, the partners in the three-party coalition have spoken up. Upper Austria’s state governor Thomas Stelzer (ÖVP) said after a video conference of the ÖVP state governors on Monday that the situation was not conducive to the stability of the federal government; what mattered was that the government remain able to work (reports from ORF, news.at and Salzburg24). The chair of the Conference of State Governors, Markus Wallner (ÖVP), had already warned before Babler’s move that the leadership debate does not help the coalition.
NEOS leader and Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said, according to Salzburg24, that personnel decisions of the SPÖ were a matter for the SPÖ, but that the reforms had to be implemented without further delay. ÖVP and NEOS reaffirmed the government program (trend.at, news.at). Chancellor Christian Stocker holds to his rejection of early elections and to the “autumn of results.” Profil reports that Hans Peter Doskozil of Burgenland was the first to call on Babler to resign, and that some in the ÖVP want a tougher line; these are accounts from a single outlet.