VIENNA — Austrian People’s Party on Sunday nominated its General Secretary Christian Stocker as interim leader after the expected resignation of Chancellor Karl Nehammer, Austrian news agency APA reported.

Nehammer announced Saturday he would resign in the next few days after coalition talks with the Social Democrats collapsed.

Stocker, a lawyer and member of the Austrian Parliament, has served as general secretary of the People’s Party since 2022. He is seen as an experienced and calm crisis communicator who has frequently appeared in Austrian media to defend controversial decisions.

Protected by special police forces, Nehammer walked across the square from the Chancellery toward the president’s office in Vienna.

“What is important for me is that the way of stability and the center can be continued,” he said.

The 52-year-old Nehammer became chancellor and conservative party leader in 2021, after his predecessor Sebastian Kurz was forced to stand down following allegations of corruption.

In April 2022, Nehammer became the first European leader to visit Moscow and meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin since the invasion of Ukraine in February that year. Before going to Moscow, he also met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

Austria’s President Alexander Van der Bellen will make a public statement to announce the next steps once the meeting with Nehammer is over.