Far-right leader pledges to 'govern Austria honestly' and makes demands of potential partner

VIENNA (AP) — Austrian far-right leader Herbert Kickl said Tuesday in his first comments after being tasked to form a new government that he aspires to “govern Austria honestly” as he prepared for talks on a potential coalition with conservatives who criticized him sharply in the past.

Kickl said he's prepared for new elections if they fail.

His Russia-friendly, anti-immigration, euroskeptic Freedom Party won Austria's parliamentary election in September but was initially shunned by other parties. Their efforts to put together a coalition without it failed.

On Monday, Kickl received a mandate to try to form what would be the first national government led by the far right since World War II. That came after the conservative Austrian People’s Party of outgoing Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who announced his resignation Saturday, made an abrupt U-turn on its previous refusal to contemplate working with the Freedom Party under Kickl.

Kickl — a 56-year-old with a provocative style — made clear he hasn't forgotten past friction with the People's Party. Nehammer has described him as a “security risk.” The party's interim leader, Christian Stocker, said during the election campaign that anyone voting for Kickl “is voting for five years of high risk with radical ideas.”

“Our country was driven into the wall in the past five years,” Kickl said, pointing in particular to Austria's large budget deficit and what he said was “a massive trust deficit” accumulated by mainstream parties. He said he has “a very, very simple aim, and that is to govern Austria honestly.”

Kickl said he is reaching out to Stocker, “and you can believe me, that isn't easy for me either — we have an interesting past together — but it is honest.”

Kickl added he has clear expectations, including “an awareness of who won the election, and who finished second and isn't the winner.” He also demanded “an understanding of who is responsible for the mistakes of the past” and a partner with stable and consistent leadership.

“If this isn't assured ... I can say that's it,” Kickl said. “Then there will be new elections — we are prepared for that.”

The Freedom Party won 28.8% of the vote in September. That was a nearly 13-point gain from five years earlier, when the party was punished by voters following the collapse of a conservative-led government in which it was the junior partner amid a scandal surrounding the Freedom Party's then-leader.

The Austrian People’s Party came in second with 26.3% and the center-left Social Democrats, post-war Austria's other traditional big party, were third with 21.1%.

The Freedom Party's poll ratings have risen since the election as its rivals struggled and failed to find common ground. Surveys published in December put its support at between 35% and 37%.

Kickl didn't address any specific policies for Austria, a member of the European Union but not NATO, in his lengthy statement to reporters. He took no questions.

The Freedom Party is part of a right-wing populist alliance in the European Parliament, Patriots for Europe, which includes the parties of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and of the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders, whose party dominates the Netherlands’ new government.

Nehammer has said he will step down on Friday. It's not clear who will serve as interim chancellor while Kickl explores a possible coalition.

Moulson reported from Berlin.

The leader of Austria's Freedom Party, Herbert Kickl, addresses a news conference, in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Jan 7, 2025. Herbert Kickl received a mandate Monday to try to form a new government (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader)

Newspapers are seen on a sales stand in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Jan 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader)

The leader of Austria's Freedom Party, Herbert Kickl, addresses a news conference, in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Jan 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader)

The leader of Austria's Freedom Party, Herbert Kickl, addresses a news conference, in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Jan 7, 2025. Herbert Kickl received a mandate Monday to try to form a new government. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader)

The leader of Austria's Freedom Party, Herbert Kickl, addresses a news conference, in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader)

The leader of Austria's Freedom Party, Herbert Kickl, addresses a news conference, in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Jan 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader)

The leader of Austria's Freedom Party, Herbert Kickl, addresses a news conference, in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Jan 7, 2025. Herbert Kickl received a mandate Monday to try to form a new government. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader)

Wildfires tore across the Los Angeles area with devastating force on Wednesday after setting off a desperate escape from burning homes through flames, ferocious winds and towering clouds of smoke.

Flames broke out on Tuesday evening near a nature preserve in the inland foothills northeast of LA while another blaze that started hours earlier ripped through the city’s Pacific Palisades neighborhood. A third wildfire started around 10:30 p.m. and prompted evacuations in Sylmar, the northernmost neighborhood in Los Angeles. The causes of all three fires were under investigation.

Here's the latest:

Evacuating a wildfire area can be scary, but experts say people can significantly improve their own safety with a little preparation and common sense.

Creating a wildfire action plan, packing a “go bag” and maintaining basic situational awareness during evacuations can make a big difference when escaping a disaster, Jesse Torres, a battalion chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, said.

But the most important tip? Don’t wait around for an evacuation order, Torres said.

“The biggest thing is to get out early, before the notifications come out. It’s so important to avoid the congestion,” he said.

The morning sky is lightening, and soon the scope of the devastation will be more clear. Some hillsides are glowing from the scattered fires.

Generally, it starts in June or July and runs through October, according to the Western Fire Chiefs Association.

However, January wildfires are not unprecedented — there was one in 2022 and 10 in 2021, according to CalFire.

Recent data shows the season is beginning earlier and ending later due to rising temperatures and decreased rainfall tied to climate change. That means rains that usually end fire season are often delayed and fires can burn through the winter months as a result, the association says.

The National Weather Service is receiving reports of winds up to 80 mph (129 kph) this morning. They could top 100 mph (160 kph) in mountains and foothills and include areas that haven’t seen substantial rain in months.

Red flag warnings are highlighting extremely critical fire weather conditions. Those include exceptionally dry relative humidity levels, according to Peter Mullinax, a meteorologist with the weather service.

He says the winds are expected to continue into Thursday, too, “providing very little in terms of any relief.”

Sunrise is in a little over an hour.

Overnight, the images were stark: The skeleton of a Christmas tree was framed in a blazing window in the Pacific Palisades.

Opulent homes collapsed in a whirlwind of flaming embers.

The tops of palm trees whipped against the glowing red sky.

Vast clouds of smoke dwarfed the water dumped by helicopters attempting to calm the flames.

The Palisades Fire burns a residence in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

People flee from the advancing Palisades Fire, by car and on foot, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

A car travels down East Mendocino Street as a wildfire burns in the hills near Eaton Canyon, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Water is dropped on the advancing Palisades Fire by helicopter in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Residents of a senior center are evacuated as the Eaton Fire approaches Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

A resident of a senior center is evacuated as the Eaton Fire approaches Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025 in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

A resident of a senior center is evacuated as the Eaton Fire approaches Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025 in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Residents of a senior center are evacuated as the Eaton Fire approaches Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

The Eaton Fire burns vehicles and structures Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025 in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

The Palisades Fire burns a Christmas tree inside a residence in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)