Austria's far-right and center-left teamed up to unseat the country's conservative chancellor

Austria's parliament passed its first post-World War II vote of no confidence in the government on Monday, removing 32-year-old Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of the conservative People's Party from office. The main opposition Social Democrats (SPO) and the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), Kurz's erstwhile governing partner, teamed up to sink Kurz and his government. Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen named Vice Chancellor Hartwig Loeger acting chancellor until he can appoint a caretaker government to lead Austria into national elections in September.

Kurz's governing alliance with the FPO fell apart after two German news organizations released a video last week of FPO leader Heinz-Christian Strache apparently agreeing to fix government contracts for a woman pretending to be the niece of Russian oligarch Igor Makarov; in return, the Russians would buy a large stake in an Austrian newspaper that would then back the FPO. Strache stepped down as vice chancellor hours after the video was released, Kurz then pushed out Interior Minister Herbert Kick, and other FPO ministers resigned from the government in solidarity.

Kurz's People's Party won the most votes in European Parliament elections on Sunday, after the debacle with the FPO, and Kurz predicted vindication at the ballot box in September. When his party won a plurality of seats in 2017, elevating him to chancellor, Kurz was 31.

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