Austrian centrist parties confident they will form coalition government

VIENNA (Reuters) - The leaders of the three biggest centrist parties in Austria's parliament said on Saturday they were confident they would reach a deal to form a coalition government without the far right, almost five months after a new lower house was elected.

"I am very confident that in the common ground that we have found, we will manage to finalize a coalition government agreement," conservative People's Party leader Christian Stocker said, standing alongside his counterparts from the Social Democrats and liberal Neos at President Alexander Van der Bellen's office.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Dave Graham)