Austria's new government takes office after a 5-month wait for a new administration

Austria’s new government has taken office after a long, five-month wait for a new administration. Christian Stocker took over as chancellor at the head of a previously untried three-party coalition on Monday. The new government will have to deal with rising unemployment, a recession and a creaking budget. Its coalition agreement, presented last Thursday after the longest negotiations in post-World War II Austria, also foresees strict new asylum rules in the European Union country of 9 million people. This is the country’s first three-party government. The alliance in the political center came together only at the second attempt after the far-right Freedom Party emerged as the strongest political force in a parliamentary election on Sept. 29.