16/10/2017 (Agence Europe) – European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker offered his congratulations on Monday 16 October to Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz following his victory in the general election on 15 October, wishing him every success in “forming a stable, pro-European government”. The conservative party, ÖVP (Österreichische Volkspartei), of the 31-year-old probable future head of government topped the election but its 31.7% of the vote is not enough to be able to govern without forming a coalition. The social democrats (SPÖ) of outgoing chancellor Christian Kern took 26.9%. In his letter of congratulations, Juncker noted that Austria will be at the helm of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2018 and will have some major decisions to manage. (SP)