“Hallein Connection”: Opposition in Salzburg demands clarification on police mail allocation
At the end of January, zackzack.at reported on chat logs relating to the Ministry of the Interior. Because it is also about filling the high-ranking post in the Salzburg police, the state FPÖ and SPÖ are demanding clarification from Governor Wilfried Haslauer (ÖVP) and an end to the party book economy.
From the point of view of the Salzburg Freedom and Social Democrats, the focus of the BMI chats that have emerged is the so-called “Hallein Connection” – a suspected black or Turkish network in the police force that shows close personal connections to the second largest city in the state. The appointment of Georg Angerer as head of the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counter-Terrorism (LVT) is to take place in 2016 thanks to massive help from the ÖVP.
Union members “button individually”
According to zackzack.at, Angerer – previously city councilor and club chairman of the People’s Party in Hallein – had asked the head of cabinet in the ÖVP-led Ministry of the Interior, Michael Kloibmüller, for support long before the tender – and thanked him after his appointment. But he also complained to him that he had to give up his political office – apparently under pressure from trade unionists close to the SPÖ. Kloibmüller responded in the chat with an expletive: “Remember the assholes and we’ll take them one by one.” Angerer’s answer: “I’m fighting for this with all my might.”
“Own people” instead of SPÖ
Another message from Kloibmüller also suggests how important it was to be close to the ÖVP when filling posts. He wrote to the French state police director Franz Ruf, now general director for public safety, why an SPÖ man had been given the job of filling the post of chief of criminal justice and not “his own people”. Ruf offered that certain people he offered the job to didn’t want it. “The occupation was objective and legally compliant at the time,” he told the “Salzburger Nachrichten” a few days ago.
Ruf himself worked as a police officer in Hallein for more than a decade, his appointment as security director in Salzburg failed in 2007 and 2008, but initially due to resistance from British governor Gabi Burgstaller (SPÖ). It was only when Haslauer made his appointment after the 2009 state elections a coalition condition, according to “SN”, that Ruf officially became director of security and (with the restructuring in 2012) state police director of Salzburg.
Chat logs are said to be stolen
Ex-cabinet chief Kloibmüller did not want to comment on the chats to the APA on Friday, also in view of the expected committee of inquiry into allegations of corruption against the ÖVP. The publication of the (private) messages through the online medium is considered controversial, since the chat logs appear to be data stolen from Kloibmüller’s cell phone years ago.
FPÖ will “examine” LH role
As a result of the publication, the Salzburg FPÖ leader Marlene Svazek accused the Salzburg ÖVP of abusing its own position of power. “The role of the governor in filling high posts in the police must be carefully examined.” The opinion of the Salzburg ÖVP that it had nothing to do with the events was unbelievable. Svazek announced that he would call up a platform on the Internet where people who feel unlawfully treated by the ÖVP when filling posts can report. “And I would have liked to have known from Haslauer in which areas in Salzburg an ÖVP influence has been asserted.”
SPÖ demands “end of the party book economy”
Salzburg SPÖ chairman David Egger also called on the ÖVP to carry out a thorough clean-up process in its own ranks and to say goodbye to coalition politics. On the one hand, it is necessary to avert damage to the police’s good reputation and, on the other hand, to stop the ÖVP’s lust for power. “The question is whether you use all your strength to fight for power and for minions, or to stand up for the people of the country.”
Haslauer spokesman: “Matter of the Ministry of the Interior”
A spokesman for Governor Haslauer reacted to the criticism on Friday. “This is a matter for the Interior Ministry,” he told APA. The state had influenced the appointment of the head of the LVT. Current positions outside the police force – for example in the ORF regional directorate, on the board of Salzburg AG or for the president of the Salzburg Festival – have shown that all criteria of objectivity are met. “The opposition is trying to construct a problem for the ÖVP Salzburg with news from Vienna.”
As far as the head of the Salzburg LVT is concerned, according to a spokesman for the Salzburg police, the facts were assigned to an official and criminal investigation. However, according to an initial assessment, immediate measures were not necessary.