Nehammer sworn in as new Austrian chancellor

The federal government of Austria was reshuffled on Monday and Karl Nehammer was sworn in as the country's new chancellor, reported Xinhua.

Nehammer, 49, was general secretary of the ruling conservative People's Party (OVP) from January 2018 to January 2020, when he was appointed minister of the interior in the second cabinet led by former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

On Oct. 9, Kurz resigned after being placed under investigation on allegations of corruption. Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg succeeded Kurz as the country's new chancellor two days later.

On the morning of Dec. 2, Kurz, who was still chairman of the OVP, suddenly resigned from all his positions and announced his withdrawal from politics. Later that day, Schallenberg also resigned.

The OVP unanimously elected Nehammer to succeed Kurz as OVP chief and nominated him as new chancellor.

Nehammer's first move has been to reshuffle the country's coalition government made up of the OVP and the Greens. Schallenberg has returned to his former post as foreign minister.