Roundup: Austrian vice chancellor announces resignation

Austria's Vice Chancellor and leader of the People's Party, Reinhold Mitterlehner, Wednesday announced he would resign from all political positions.

Mitterlehner said he is to leave the office of vice chancellor and economy minister on May 15, and is expected to step down as party leader by this weekend.

"It's enough," he told reporters in a news conference on Wednesday.

He said he made his decision after having failed to quell in-fighting and speculation about the party's leadership in the future.

The conservative People's Party is currently in a coalition with the center-left Social Democratic Party of Austria in parliament.

He said the decision to quit all forms of politics was made for both "self-protection" as well as for the protection of his family.

He cited developments during the "past months and particularly the past few days," as the main reason for his move, adding he saw "no point" in the events of late that have occurred within the struggling coalition.

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern said he regretted Mitterlehner's decision but understands and accepts the reasons.

Mitterlehner's resignation had been publicly speculated. The young Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz is under pressure to take over as head of the party. But Kurz recently declared that he currently did not want to take over the party. Endit