NEOS defend coalition course at Linz meeting
Saturday 10th October 2026 on 17:01 in
Austria
NEOS leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger defended her party’s role in Austria’s governing coalition and its current political direction at a members’ meeting in Linz on Saturday, while criticising a planned parcel tax. ORF reported that around 300 members of the smallest party in government attended.
Meinl-Reisinger said the party had secured almost all of its government priorities despite being the junior partner to the ÖVP and SPÖ. She cited a second compulsory year of kindergarten, extra support for schools, lower non-wage labour costs and budget consolidation as achievements.
But she said the proposed parcel tax was a “mess” and should be reconsidered. She also called for faster pension reform, including a gradual rise in the retirement age to 67, and backed creating an EU army. “Neutrality does not protect us,” she said, warning that Europe must be able to rely on itself.
Meinl-Reisinger also accused the FPÖ of siding with the Kremlin under the cover of neutrality. Responding to recent remarks by Upper Austrian FPÖ leader Manfred Haimbuchner suggesting interest in a coalition with NEOS, she said he needed an economically liberal “cover”. The FPÖ’s course was “poison” for the economy, she said.
Upper Austrian NEOS leader Felix Eypeltauer, who hosted the meeting, made the state election due next year a focus of his remarks. He criticised regional political structures and bureaucracy, saying the election offered a chance to end what he called “bullshit politics”.
Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr and State Secretary Josef Schellhorn also reviewed their work in government. Schellhorn said power still lay with the states and argued that NEOS was needed in the coalition. The meeting’s main policy focus was “saving within the system”. About 100 people watched the party’s livestream, according to NEOS.
No leadership vote was scheduled. The party elects its leader every three years, with the next vote due next year. Meinl-Reisinger was last re-elected in July 2024 with 91 per cent support.
The FPÖ described the meeting as an attempt by a failed establishment party to justify itself. Secretary General Michael Schnedlitz said Meinl-Reisinger’s appearance showed how far NEOS had moved from its promises and the realities facing Austrians. He said the party’s own record was the real example of the “bullshit politics” it criticised.