VIENNA — Austrian conservative leader Wolfgang Schuessel has finally achieved the dream of a lifetime — to be sworn in as chancellor—but the sweet taste of victory could quickly turn sour.
After five years of playing second fiddle to two Social Democratic chancellors, the 54-year-old People's Party chief takes over power at the helm of a controversial coalition with Joerg Haider's Freedom Party.
He could scarcely have imagined that he would have to devote his energies as head of government to persuading the world that Austria is a stable democracy and not a nation of xenophobic neo-Nazis.
No Austrian leader before him has had to start his term of office by declaring, as Schuessel did this week: "Austria does not need lessons in democracy. We are not a developing country as far as human rights are concerned."
The combative career politician will need all his toughness, persistence and iron nerves to see him through what could be a rocky start to his time as chancellor, facing a threat from Austria's EU partners to isolate the country politically.
Entering government with Haider, long a political pariah who prides himself on his unpredictability, is the biggest gamble of Schuessel's career. But he is no stranger to risk-taking.
In 1995, just a year after a general election, he suddenly pulled the plug on a grand coalition with Franz Vranitzky's Social Democrats, gambling that his party would emerge stronger in the subsequent snap general election.
He lost. The People's Party won fewer seats, Schuessel swallowed his pride and renewed the grand coalition.
Before the October 1999 election, when the People's Party was trailing badly in opinion polls, Schuessel stunned Austrians by declaring he would go into opposition if his party came third.
That gamble appeared to pay off. The People's Party won 27 percent of the vote, above its opinion poll showings. It got the same number of seats as the Freedom Party but trailed it by a tantalising 415 votes, taking third place by a narrow margin.
Schuessel's changes of tack since then—from opposition pledge, to abortive negotiations with the Social Democrats, to a centre-right coalition—earned an unprecedented public rebuke from President Thomas Klestil, who branded Schuessel unreliable.
Schuessel was a fierce defender of his party's vital interests in the fractious 13-year coalition with the Social Democrats, first as economics minister and then as foreign minister and vice-chancellor.
He clashed with the Social Democrats over issues from tax reform to privatisation and neutrality.
One newspaper commentator said Schuessel, an avid skier and accomplished pianist, had difficulty in concealing the fact that he felt intellectually superior to his nominal boss Viktor Klima.
Born in Vienna on June 7, 1945, Schuessel studied law and economics before becoming a career politician in the People's Party ranks.
Elected deputy party leader in 1987, he joined the cabinet two years later as economics minister. He was elected leader of the People's Party and foreign minister in 1995.
Schuessel became embroiled in a mini-scandal in June 1997 when journalists reported that he had called German Bundesbank President Hans Tietmeyer a "real pig" at a press breakfast during an EU summit in Amsterdam.
He denied the allegations but went to Frankfurt to explain the incident to Tietmeyer. He was been wary of journalists since then.
A father of two who is married to a psychologist, Schuessel is known for his trademark bow tie and designer glasses.
A fluent English-speaker, he clearly enjoyed being in the international limelight during Austria's first EU presidency in the second half of 1998.
Schuessel would like Austria to renounce its post-war neutrality and join NATO, arguing that neutrality is an outdated concept since the end of the Cold War.