VIENNA -  The Austrian People's Party, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the NEOS party announced on Saturday that they are edging toward a coalition deal after the recent failure of efforts led by the far-right Freedom Party.

People's Party leader Christian Stocker stated that the talks with the SDP and NEOS showed a common ground, and that efforts will be made to form a government "in a timely manner," as reported by Austrian broadcaster ORF.

Leaders from both the SDP and the NEOS similarly expressed their willingness to finalize the coalition deal as soon as possible.

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President Alexander Van der Bellen said in a statement that it is "urgently necessary" to form a new government swiftly due to Austria's difficult economic situation and changed geopolitical situation, particularly given the emerging uncertainties in US-Europe relations.

Europe must become active, and Austria will play its role in this, he added.

Last week, coalition talks led by the Freedom Party to form a coalition government with the People's Party broke down.

In the Austrian parliamentary elections last September, the Freedom Party emerged as the leading party with approximately 29 percent of the vote, followed by the People's Party with 26.3 percent and the SDP with 21.1 percent. The liberal NEOS party secured fourth place.

READ MORE: First results show far-right Freedom Party leads Austria's general election

Despite these results, the Freedom Party was initially excluded from coalition discussions by all major parties. President Van der Bellen first tasked the People's Party with forming a new government in October, but three-party coalition talks involving the People's Party, SDP, and the NEOS collapsed in early January, followed by unsuccessful two-party negotiations between the People's Party and the SDP. In mid-January, Van der Bellen then granted the Freedom Party the mandate to form a government.