Thursday's announcement follows the longest period of coalition negotiations in Austria's recent history, after two previous attempts to form a government failed. The three-party government, which would be the first since the late 1940s,

The announcement was a victory for mainstream political parties, after earlier talks involving the hard-right Freedom Party broke down.

Executive Federal Party Chairman and likely future chancellor, Christian Stocker, announced a deal to form a coalition government with the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the liberal Neos party. However, the liberals still need to hold an inter-party vote on Sunday.

Austria's centrist parties have agreed to form a coalition government five months after elections in which the country's leading far right party won the largest share of the national vote. The centre-right People's Party (ÖVP),

Austrian parties that plan to form a coalition government excluding the far right announced their future ministers on Friday, among them the first left-wing finance minister in 25 years, before a key vote to seal the deal on Sunday.

The Freedom Party has sought to join the rising tide of hard-right movements across Europe by tapping into voter anger over immigration, inflation and the European Union’s influence.

Three Austrian mainstream parties said they had come to an agreement, elbowing aside the far-right group that had won the country’s election.