Austrian Vice Chancellor Babler Says He Will Step Down Early Next Year
Austrian Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler said on Sunday, 4 October 2026, that he would quit his position and step down at the start of next year as leader of the Social Democrats, the second party in Austria's three-way governing coalition. The announcement sets up a senior personnel change in the government at the turn of the year.
Babler told a press conference that the party leadership had agreed in meetings on Sunday that Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer would replace him as vice chancellor early next year, with Babler stepping down as party leader at the same time. Marterbauer is undergoing treatment for cancer, and the succession arrangement has been confirmed within the party.
The Social Democrats are the second-largest party in the three-party coalition. With both the vice chancellorship and the party leadership changing hands, the party enters a transition on two levels at once. How and when a new party leader will be chosen is to be announced by the party.
The change comes as the government works to shrink the budget deficit. Austria's deficit came in at 4.1 percent of economic output last year, well beyond the EU limit of 3 percent, and fiscal consolidation is one of the coalition's central tasks. Elevating the finance minister to vice chancellor is seen as a move to keep that course.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 维也纳联邦总理府所在地首相广场。照片：Hubertl，CC BY-SA 4.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons（AT - 50446 Federal Chancellery (Austria) - 6232.jpg）
