(ANSA) – TRIESTE, 10 OCT – Less than 24 hours after the announcement of the resignation of Sebastian Kurz after the corruption scandal that overwhelmed him, Austria has a new canceller. President Alexander van der Bellen has appointed outgoing Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg as head of the Vienna government tonight, indicated as his successor by Kurz. An appointment immediately approved by Deputy Chancellor Werner Kogler, leader of the Greens, who together with the conservatives of the People’s Party (Oevp) will continue to compose the ruling coalition after obtaining Kurz’s step back. “This government crisis is over”, said the Austrian head of state, thanking the outgoing chancellor for a step back that “avoided damage to the Republic”. Speaking to the nation, van der Bellen apologized for the “image that politics has given” these days, complaining that trust in institutions has been “once again deeply shaken”. But now, he added, “the work for our country can go on”. The Schallenberg oath is already tomorrow. The flash crisis had appeared in the process of being resolved already in the morning, when Schallenberg went to the presidential palace in Vienna, speaking of “an extremely demanding task and time, not easy for any of us”. But in this situation, he added, “I think we are showing an incredible level of responsibility for this country”. The 52-year-old career diplomat – divorced and father of four children – will now have the delicate task of reconstructing the image of the executive, heavily damaged by the scandal that broke out four days ago, despite Kurz’s self-defense, which he called “false” to accuse them. in his regards. “I am happy that there is the possibility of opening a new chapter in the work of the coalition government”, declared Kogler for his part, defining the last, troubled days as “a test” for the entire executive. “Let’s do the right thing and think first of all of our Austria”, was the appeal of the leader of the Greens.
According to analysts, the line of the Vienna executive is not expected to change significantly. The leader of the Social Democratic opposition, Pamela Rendi-Wagner, denounces the existence of a “Kurz system”, with her de facto permanence in power as a “ghost chancellor”, after having led two governments in the last four years. After all, the 35-year-old politician, who in recent years has beaten all records of precocity in Austrian politics, becoming in order the youngest undersecretary, foreign minister and chancellor, will remain in Parliament and at the helm of the Austrian Popolari. Already in 2019 Kurz had succeeded in the crisis that had led to the fall of his first government, by being re-elected after the so-called ‘Ibiza-gate’, the corruption scandal that had overwhelmed his allies at the time, the far right of the Freedom Party (Fpoe) (ANSA).