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POLITICS

‘Ibizagate’: What you need to know about the Austrian political corruption scandal

The 'Ibizagate' political scandal is still shaking up Austrian politics three years after it broke. Here is what you need to know about it.

'Ibizagate': What you need to know about the Austrian political corruption scandal
Austria's former Vice-Chancellor and disgraced former leader of Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) Heinz-Christian Strache gives his private statement in Vienna, Austria. Photo: JOE KLAMAR / AFP

The Ibiza scandal – nicknamed Ibizagate by Austrian media – can be traced back to a meeting in 2017 on the Spanish resort island of Ibiza between Strache, then leader of the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), and a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch.

Strache was filmed promising the woman state contracts in exchange for helping his party to campaign for elections on an anti-migration, anti-Islam plank.

Strache also discussed the possibility of the woman buying Austria’s most-read tabloid, Kronen Zeitung, and making its editorial line more pro-FPOe.

He did not know the meeting was a sting and that he was being filmed.

The video surfaced in German media in May 2019 and led to the collapse of a coalition government composed of the FPOe and the centre-right People’s Party (OeVP) of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

What charges have been brought? 

Strache claimed in the video that several high-profile billionaires, as well as international gambling company Novomatic, had funded political parties through illegal donations to associations.

All those named by Strache deny any wrongdoing. Strache attributed what he said in the video to intoxication and claimed he may have been drugged.

So far only Julian Hessenthaler, a private detective who helped orchestrate the video, has been arrested, based on drug-related offences for which he faces 15 years in prison.

However, a judicial investigation launched after the video was released led to the seizure of mobile phones belonging to Strache and several other politicians, which opened the way for no fewer than 12 separate probes into allegations of wrongdoing.

The trial revolves around charges that Strache offered to change a law to help an FPOe donor friend of his secure public funding for his private hospital – Strache was found guilty years later.

READ ALSO: Former Austrian vice chancellor convicted over corruption

What is the crrent fallout? 

One of the investigations focuses on alleged ties between Novomatic and senior political figures. The most high-profile target is OeVP Finance Minister Gernot Bluemel, a close confidant and ally of Kurz.

It is looking into possible payments made by Novomatic to the OeVP in return for “help… with tax liability that the business was facing abroad”, according to prosecutors.

Bluemel attracted ridicule when investigators raided his home in February, right as his partner took his laptop out for a stroll with the couple’s baby.

Bluemel and Novomatic deny any wrongdoing – the Finance Minister later resigned his position, saying he wanted to go into private sector and spend time with his family.

The fall of the chancellor

Kurz and Bluemel have both also hit the headlines for allegedly helping civil servant Thomas Schmid clinch a lucrative post as head of OeBAG, a company that administers the Austrian state’s holdings in various companies.

In leaked chat messages referring to the process of setting up OeBAG, Kurz wrote to Schmid: “You get everything you want,” adding several “kiss” emojis, to which Schmid replied: “I’m so happy :-))) I love my chancellor.”

Investigators have also since discovered chats suggesting that Schmid helped write the specifications for the job he applied for.

READ ALSO: Profile: Austria’s ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, the one-time ‘Wunderkind’

Kurz is also under investigation for making false statements to a parliamentary committee over the affair, an offence that can carry a prison sentence of three years. He was also implicated in an investigation over whether or not he, with the help of the Finance Ministry, bribed Austrian media to publish positive polls before his election.

After pressure from coalition partners, and the opposition, he resigned as chancellor and, weeks later, left politics altogether

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POLITICS

How Austria’s centre-left SPÖ party plans to change integration policy

Asylum, migration, and integration policies are a much-debated issue in Austria, particularly as the country heads to its national elections in the fall. What are the centre-left SPÖ plans?

How Austria's centre-left SPÖ party plans to change integration policy

National elections in Austria will take place this fall, and one of the most debated issues – certainly one that has been driving voters for the past few years – is the refugee and asylum policy debates. 

While the far-right party FPÖ has gained popularity with extremist views such as closing off Austria entirely for asylum seekers, the centre-right ÖVP has also presented tougher stances. The chancellor’s party has publicly defended the creation of “asylum centres” for processing outside of the EU borders. Chancellor Karl Nehammer has also fully supported the UK’s plan to deport asylum seekers to “safe third countries”

A tougher stance on refugee policies has proved popular in Austria, and the centre-left SPÖ party has also seemed to lean toward stricter ideas more recently. However, since the party got a new leadership, a precise migration programme had not been presented yet. However, the issue was pressing, particularly following the party’s poor performance in the EU elections, when migration played a key role.

READ ALSO: How a change in the profile of asylum seekers is impacting Austria

So what are the party’s plans?

The SPÖ presented a new” masterplan” for asylum, migration, and integration. According to the SPÖ, the “Doskozil-Kaiser paper,” which has existed since 2018, has been “sharpened,” resulting in an “offensive paper” with approaches for action, said SPÖ leader Andreas Babler.

The aim was to “ensure balance and order” under “the premise of humanity”, said Babler at a press conference in Vienna.

The plan’s main points include faster procedures at the EU’s external borders, a fair distribution of refugees within the EU, and sanctions against countries that refuse to do so. With this, the SPÖ wants to reach a 75 percent reduction in the number of asylum applications. 

For example, the party leaders mentioned Hungary, where there were only 45 applications in 2023, compared to almost 60,000 in Austria. They said Hungary had to be persuaded to cooperate by exhausting all legal and political means.

The SPÖ proposes procedure centres along the EU’s external borders so that procedures can be completed more quickly and people do not hand themselves over to smugglers. The EU should set up “common centres for asylum applications”, for example, in embassies. 

People should only be distributed within the EU once the asylum applications have been assessed favourably. As a first step, cooperation between individual states could occur without the consent of all EU member states.

READ ALSO: When do Austrians think an immigrant is successfully integrated?

‘Integration year’ and deportation

The SPÖ plan contains an “extended mandatory integration year” that would ensure refugees get “German and values courses.” However, severe penalties, including deportation, would be imposed for serious offences or “repeated minor crimes.” 

Instead of mass accommodation, the SPÖ proposes small centres enabling better contact with the population. Women’s rights should also become a “central guiding principle for integration”. Women’s self-determination is the top priority, said SPÖ women’s spokesperson Eva-Maria Holzleitner.

The party reiterated that asylum is fundamentally a human right that should never be questioned. However, those who are denied their asylum request would be deported to their country of origin or safe third countries, the party advocates. 

READ ALSO: Who needs to take Austria’s integration exam?

Criticism from the right

Over the weekend, party representatives from far-right FPÖ and centre-right ÖVP have come out to criticise the SPÖ proposals. 

An FPÖ spokesperson said the plan is “pure PR policy” and that, in truth, the SPÖ had “always opened the door to illegal mass immigration under the guise of asylum”. The ÖVP said the proposals are just “headlines instead of concrete proposals for solutions”. 

In a press release, the party said that no capacity limit was presented, showing “that the SPÖ has still not realised that illegal migration cannot be countered by further squeezing the Austrian taxpayer”

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