Tensions rise in Austrian coalition with do-or-die talk

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern said on Tuesday he was losing patience with his conservative coalition partners, raising the prospect of a government collapse that could play into the hands of the far-right Freedom Party. Kern, a Social Democrat, gave interviews in which he called on the conservative People's Party to back at least some of his recent proposals on economic and political reforms or face a breakdown of their coalition, which runs until 2018. Spats within the centrist bloc are co