Tax & Spend

Austria Far-Right Eyes €6.3 Billion Budget Cut to Avoid EU Probe

Freedom Party, conservatives seek €6.3 billion savings in 2025
Plan aims to dodge EU deficit probe, soothe investor concerns

Herbert Kickl on Jan. 13.Photographer: Alex Halada/AFP/Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Jonathan Tirone

January 13, 2025 at 10:49 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Austrian negotiators trying to form a nationalist-conservative government will target €6.3 billion ($6.4 billion) in immediate budget spending cuts to avoid being reprimanded by the European Union.

Plans to cut expenditures worth more than a percentage point of gross domestic product without raising taxes will be presented to the European Commission this week, said Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl on Monday during a press conference in Vienna.