The Migrant Crisis Claims Its Latest Victim

Europe's migration crisis continues to have political repercussions, and Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann has just become its most prominent casualty. On May 9, Faymann announced his resignation as both chancellor and leader of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPO), arguing that he no longer had the political support to hold the positions. Faymann's interim replacement, Reinhold Mitterlehner, head of the ruling coalition's center-right Austrian People's Party (OVP), said May 10 that he could be forced to call for elections if he fails to reach an agreement with his coalition partners over how to proceed. But even if the coalition survives, Austria's traditional parties will be at the helm of an unpopular government facing mounting pressure from the nationalist right.