Christian Stocker
Chancellor of Austria since March 2025 and leader of the conservative Austrian People's Party.
At the European Council on 15-16 October 2026 Christian Stocker said he was not convinced by a US proposal to hand Washington the roughly €200bn of Russian assets frozen in Europe, given how fast US policy changes.
Last refreshed: 18 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why did Austria doubt the US plan for frozen Russian assets?
Timeline for Christian Stocker
EU keeps Russian assets from Washington
Russia-Ukraine War 2026Background
Christian Stocker is Chancellor of Austria and leader of the conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). He took over the party in January 2025 after Karl Nehammer resigned, and became chancellor on 3 March 2025.
He heads Austria's first three-party Coalition, with the Social Democrats and the liberal NEOS. It took a record five months of talks after the election to form that government.
On Ukraine he sits with the EU majority on Russia's frozen assets. At the October 2026 summit his doubts about the US idea joined flat rejections from Germany's Friedrich Merz and Finland's Petteri Orpo, and leaders kept the money frozen in Europe. The same summit put off a decision on how to finance Ukraine.
Who is the Chancellor of Austria?
What did Austria say about giving frozen Russian assets to the US?
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Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 18 October 2026. Editorial standards.