Austria: Austria: Kurz defends itself against allegations of corruption
Investigators search the power centers of the ruling conservatives in Vienna. The judiciary has something in its hand that acts like a bomb. How long will the government last?
Austria Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has tried again to rebut the prosecution’s allegations of corruption.
There was absolutely no indication that he was personally involved, for example, in commissioning opinion polls that were more favorable for him or in placing advertisements, said Kurz in the ORF news program “ZiB2”. “All of these allegations that exist are directed against employees of the finance ministry,” emphasized Kurz. The fact that polls were manipulated in his favor is absurd, if only because dozens of polls in the fragmented period of 2016 showed very similar values for parties and politicians. A resignation from Schloss Kurz.
The prosecution’s allegations weigh heavily: breach of trust, bribery and corruption – Kurz and his team are said to have used criminal methods on their way to power in the party and state.
Investigators came to secure materials in the Chancellery, in the ÖVP headquarters, in the Ministry of Finance and in a media company. You are looking for mails from the time since the beginning of 2016 as well as data carriers, servers, cell phones and laptops. The closest circle around Kurz was affected – such as a press spokesman, his media advisor and his chief strategist. Rumors of an impending raid had been circulating for days.
Kurz rejected the suspicion of corruption. “I am convinced that these allegations will soon turn out to be false,” said the conservative politician (ÖVP) the broadcaster ORF. He accused investigators of taking chat messages out of context or misrepresenting them. “And then a criminal charge is created around it.” Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen spoke of a very unusual and serious incident in view of the house searches.
The 104-page justification of the investigators for the searches is tough. The wording was published by the investigative online portal Zackzack, behind which the ex-Green leader and ex-member of the National Council, Peter Pilz, is.
The document gives rise to the suspicion that Kurz is said to have been involved in a deal with an Austrian media company. According to the prosecution, he is said to have worked as a minister at the time from April 2016 onwards, using taxpayers’ money to influence the editorial content of the future foreign authority. Surveys should have played a central role in this, the timing and evaluation of which were influenced by Kurz’s team.
The ÖVP and the media company vehemently denied the allegations. “At no point in time was there an agreement between the ÖSTERREICH media group and the Ministry of Finance to pay for surveys through advertisements,” said the media group. The deputy ÖVP general secretary Gabriela Schwarz spoke in a message of false accusations. “It always happens with the same goal and system: massively damaging the People’s Party and Sebastian Kurz,” she said. The investigators apparently want a “show effect”. ÖVP parliamentary group leader August Wöginger announced resistance. “We will oppose this with all our might, both on the political and on the legal level.”
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the funds in the amount of more than one million euros should have flowed from the budget of the Ministry of Finance when Kurz sought to take over the ÖVP. In 2017 he won the power struggle against the hopelessly inferior ÖVP party leader Reinhold Mitterlehner and in December 2017 became chancellor of a coalition of ÖVP and right-wing FPÖ. Even after that, the cooperation between the Chancellery and the media company should have continued. “As far as we are, I’ve never really gone. Ingenious investment. (…) Who pays. I love that,” according to the investigation documents in a chat message from a brief confidante from the Ministry of Finance, after again the desired reporting has been placed. On the same day, Kurz is said to have thanked the sender: “Thank you for Austria today!”
A government crisis now quickly seems inevitable. The Greens, as a partner of the ÖVP in the coalition since January 2020, had always emphasized that with them only a “clean.” politics“is possible. The alliance of ÖVP and Greens has recently been repeatedly burdened by allegations of the ÖVP against the judiciary. Vice-Chancellor and Greens boss Werner Kogler stated that” attacks on the judiciary as a whole should be rejected “. The editor-in-chief of the magazine” Falter “, Florian Klenk, wrote on Twitter:” After the first quick reading of this house search warrant and the chats it contains, you can confidently say: Game is over. “
The coalition, which according to its own credo wanted to combine the best of two party worlds, had to overcome difficult moments time and again. Most recently, the Greens advocated minimal humanitarian gestures on the refugee issue, for example in the current Afghanistan crisis. On the other hand, the ÖVP under a short mission is completely on its tough anti-migration course, which is supported by many citizens.
The opposition sees the investigation as confirmation of the corruption suspicion in Kurz’s environment. “For Kurz and the Turkish family, it is getting closer and closer,” commented the SPÖ, referring to the party color of the ÖVP. “The Turkish house of cards is collapsing,” said SPÖ federal manager Christian Deutsch.
The ÖVP is primarily concerned with power, criticized the general secretary of the liberal Neos, Douglas Hoyo. He calls on the Chancellor’s party to help clarify the situation instead of damaging the reputation of the judiciary. The ÖVP parliamentarian Andreas Hanger spoke on Tuesday of “left cells” within the WKSTA that specifically want Kurz’s call.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 211006-99-502011 / 9 (dpa)