Another leading figure from Austria's centre-right People's Party (ÖVP) has been appointed as the country's acting head of government, amid months of political turmoil resulting from recent elections.

Austria's foreign minister Alexander Schallenberg will take over as caretaker chancellor from Friday, as the far right seeks to form a government with the conservatives, the presidential office announced.

If Kickl — who is expected to cozy up to the Kremlin and pursue hard-line policies in areas like migration — successfully forms a government he would become Austria’s new chancellor and the country’s first far-right leader since the end of World War II.

The Austrian president's office says Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg will serve as the country’s interim leader while the far-right Freedom Party attempts to put together a new coalition government.

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg was sworn in as caretaker chancellor on Friday, succeeding fellow conservative Karl Nehammer who quit last weekend after his attempt to form a centrist coalition government without the far right failed.

Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg has been sworn in as acting Chancellor of Austria, ORF reports. “One of the tasks of the federal president is to ensure that the government is in power at all times,