Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen has initiated preliminary talks with leaders of the parliamentary parties that secured seats in the National Council elections, to discuss the formation of a new governing coalition. The Austrian President met on Friday with Herbert Kickl, leader of the Freedom Party of Austria, which won the most seats in the parliamentary elections. According to a statement by the Presidential Office in Vienna, Van der Bellen is scheduled to meet leaders of the other four parties - the People's Party, the Social Democratic Party, the New Austria and Liberal Forum, and the Greens - in the coming days. President Van der Bellen is aiming to gauge the capacity of party leaders to agree on and form a governing coalition that will hold the necessary majority in Parliament. Once this assessment is completed, he will assign the task of forming a government to the leader of the party with the best chance of securing a parliamentary majority. This responsibility typically falls to the lea der of the party that obtained the highest number of votes in the election. Source: Emirates News Agency