Austrian conservatives appoint Sebastian Kurz as leader

VIENNA

Austria's People's Party (OVP) on Sunday appointed Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz as its new head.

At the news conference, Kurz called for a snap election in fall while the OVP is the junior party in the coalition government.

He was elected after Reinhold Mitterlehner resigned Tuesday from his posts as deputy prime minister and head of the party.

Kurz, 30, was the chairman of the youth branch of the OVP in 2009 before he became a member of Vienna's city council in 2010.

He was appointed State Secretary for Integration in 2011, then foreign minister after he was elected as a member of parliament in the 2013 general election.

Reporting by Askin Kiyagan;Writing by Ilker Girit