Austrian far-right Freedom Party (FPO) leader Herbert Kickl confirmed on Tuesday he plans to invite the conservative People's Party (OVP) to hold coalition talks after he was tasked with forming a coalition government.

The leader of the anti-immigrant Freedom Party of Austria, founded by former Nazis in the 1950s, was expected to be asked to enter into talks to form a new government.

In major U-turn, Christian Stocker says he will enter into coalition talks with the far right if invited to do so.

The collapse underscores the difficulty of forming stable governments in Europe, where the far right is on the rise, but many parties are loath to partner with them.

Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he’ll step down as head of government and chairman of the conservative People’s Party after failing to form a coalition government.

Representatives of the conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and the Social Democrats (SPÖ) met in the nation's chancellery for talks on Saturday after the failure of their discussions with a further party for a three-way coalition.

Talks between the two biggest centrist parties in Austria on forming a coalition government without the far-right Freedom Party have collapsed, Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on Saturday, a day after the liberal Neos party quit the negotiations.

He is so abrasive that he has one of Austria's lowest personal approval ratings, but far-right chief Herbert Kickl's strategic cunning helped his party to its first ever national election win and he now has a chance to become its first chancellor.

Herbert Kickl, leader of Austria's right-wing Freedom Party, met with President Alexander Van der Bellen on Sunday, further fueling rumors that he will be asked to form a government.

Austria headed on Sunday towards coalition talks led by the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) after efforts to form a centrist government without the FPO fell apart and prompted Chancellor Karl Nehammer to resign.