Austria’s president on Thursday called for far-reaching reforms of the country’s political culture following new revelations about a bribery scandal that prompted then-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz to resign last year.
Austrian politics has been rocked by a series of corruption scandals, with Kurz’s resignation in 2021 marking a spectacular downfall for a politician hailed as the “child prodigy” of European conservatives.
Thomas Schmid, a former senior official in Austria’s finance ministry and a close associate of the ex-chancellor, in statements to federal prosecutors leaked to the media and reported on Tuesday, accused Kurz and his conservative People’s Party (OeVP) of embezzling the public blamed money for polls skewed to improve Kurz’s image.
“We need a general overhaul,” said Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen in a television speech on Thursday, alluding to the fact that Austria’s political culture is repeatedly tainted by corruption.
“A transparent, comprehensible and, above all, perceptible general renovation … is required.”
“This is about democracy in our home country and about trust in democracy, which is once again being massively shaken,” he added, calling corruption “a paralyzing poison”.
According to Van der Bellen, new elections are currently not justified.
Schmid, who was himself involved in the major corruption scandal, contacted the federal prosecutor’s office in April and asked as a key witness, the state public prosecutor’s office for economic and corruption crime (WKStA) announced on Tuesday.
Schmid has been interrogated by the federal prosecutor’s office for a “full 15 days” since June, it said.
– ‘Order at Kurz’ –
Accordingly, Kurz is said to have known that the elections with which he wanted to win the ÖVP presidency and chancellorship were financed by the Austrian Ministry of Finance.
“Yes, he was aware of that… I only implemented this tool because I received the order from Kurz,” said Schmid, referring to the order surveys.
“I supported Kurz and the ÖVP through the Federal Ministry of Finance, with whose funds the further development of the ÖVP under Sebastian Kurz was supported,” continued Schmid.
Schmid claimed that Kurz also asked him to issue a statement to clear Kurz of all allegations.
Kurz counteracted his former ally’s “false accusations” by providing the WKStA with a recording of a telephone conversation between the two.
Kurz has announced that legal action will be taken against Schmid.
The current scandal erupted in October 2021, when prosecutors ordered raids on the Chancellery and Treasury while investigating allegations that Kurz’s inner circle had used public money to pay for cheap polls.
Prosecutors also suspect that the tabloid Oesterreich received lucrative public ads in return for the polls and flattering coverage of Kurz.
Kurz resigned in October and left politics in December, with his former home secretary now leading the country.
