AUSTRIAN Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg will serve as the country’s interim leader while the far-right Freedom Party attempts to put together a new coalition government, the president’s office said yesterday.

Mr Schallenberg, 55, will take on the duties of outgoing Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who announced his resignation over the weekend after his efforts to put together a coalition without the Freedom Party collapsed. Mr Nehammer plans to step down on Friday.

President Alexander Van der Bellen’s office said in a statement that the head of state will formally task Mr Schallenberg with “continuing the management of the Chancellery and leading the interim government.”