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SEBASTIAN KURZ

EU chiefs shrug at Austria’s second coalition featuring far right

European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker said on Tuesday he had no bias against Austria's new government, which includes a far-right party, adding it would be judged on its actions.

EU chiefs shrug at Austria's second coalition featuring far right
Sebastian Kurz and Jean-Claude Juncker she hands in Brussels on December 19th

The coalition between the conservative People's Party (ÖVP) and the far-right FPÖ has pledged to stop illegal immigration, cut taxes and resist EU centralisation.

It will be led by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of the ÖVP, who at 31 years old is the world's youngest leader.

His deputy is FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache, 48, who last year called German Chancellor Angela Merkel “the most dangerous woman in Europe” for her open-door refugee policy and has warned about the “Islamisation” of Europe.

After meeting with Kurz in Brussels, Juncker said he did not want to comment on the new government, saying “I am against any bias.”

“This government has taken a position that is clearly in favour of Europe and that is what counts for me,” he added.

“We will judge this Austrian government, as we do all governments, on its actions” he said, adding “what was in the government's programme suits us almost 100 percent.”

Kurz, who has increased his pro-EU statements despite an alliance with the eurosceptic and pro-Russia far-right, continued in the same vein in his comments on Tuesday.

He said he wanted to “strengthen Europe” on “important issues” but he expressed his desire that its role be reduced in smaller matters.

“We are a pro-EU nation, we are a pro-EU government,” he added.

EU President Donald Tusk, who also met Kurz, also withheld criticism of the new government.

“I see in (Kurz) an energetic, determined and pro-EU leader,” Tusk wrote on Twitter.

The last time the FPÖ entered government, in 2000 under Jörg Haider, there was outrage across Europe that a man who praised Adolf Hitler's “orderly” employment policies could be part of an EU government.

But this time, with Europe more inured to far-right parties and the FPÖ appearing to have mellowed, the reaction has been muted.

SEBASTIAN KURZ

Austria Chancellor facing investigation over ‘false statement’ to MPs

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced Wednesday that prosecutors had started investigating him after the opposition accused him of making false statements to a parliamentary committee on corruption.

Austria Chancellor facing investigation over 'false statement' to MPs
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. Image: Joe Klamar/AFP

“I wish to inform you that… prosecutors have opened an investigation against the head of my office,” Bernhard Bonelli, “and against me”, Kurz told reporters before a cabinet meeting.

Kurz denied any wrongdoing, saying: “I always answered all (the committee’s) questions truthfully.”

He said the investigation would have no impact on his work and that he would not resign.

The investigation comes after the opposition Social Democrats (SPOe) and NEOS parties accused Kurz of not telling truth in front of the committee of MPs, who are investigating the fallout from the so-called “Ibizagate” scandal that brought down Kurz’s previous government in 2019.

READ MORE: Alleged mastermind in Austria’s ‘Ibiza-gate’ video arrested in Berlin

Kurz’s then vice-chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache from the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) had to resign after a video emerged showing him in a luxury villa in Ibiza offering political favours to a woman he thought was a Russian oligarch’s niece, in exchange for financial support.

The parliamentary committee looking into the scandal has since broadened its focus to include other accusations of wrongdoing, including by politicians from Kurz’s People’s Party (OeVP).

The latest investigation comes as the OeVP’s party financing and other practices have increasingly come under the spotlight.

In February OeVP Finance Minister Gernot Bluemel’s home was raided as part of a separate probe into possible party financing offences.

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