Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has proposed the sacking of the interior minister, intensifying a fight sparked by a scandalous video that toppled the longtime leader of his far-right coalition partners.
Kurz, a conservative, ended his coalition with the nationalist Freedom Party (FPO) on Saturday after its leader and Vice Chancellor Heitz Christian Strahe fell into an apparently clever trap and offered government jobs to a woman who presented herself as the niece of a Russian oligarch.
The fight took a new turn when Kurz told reporters that he would propose to the President of Austria the dismissal of the Minister of the Interior, Herbert Kikl, since he refused to leave voluntarily like Strache.
The FPO has announced that it will vacate all ministerial posts if Kikl, credited with the FPO's rise to power, is forced out. They did so after Kurtz's comments.
"I agreed with the president that we want to guarantee stability until the new elections. That's why we will fill the vacant positions in the ministries with experts or high-ranking government officials," Kurc said.
He added that he will make sure that the government works effectively until early elections in September. The opposition parties have prepared a vote of no confidence in the government and it is not known whether the FPO will stand by the chancellor in the vote, Reuters reported.
The German media published the video on Friday, a week before the elections for the European Parliament and a year after Austria once again became the only Western European country with an ultra-rightist government. After that, Italy joined it.
The video shows Strache's meeting with his wife in 2017, on the eve of the election that brought him into the government. Nothing has yet been discovered to indicate how and why Spiegel and Zeitung published it now.
Strahe discusses the rules for party financing and how they can be circumvented. Describing the video as a "targeted political assassination", he said he had done nothing illegal and had never met the woman again.
Niki Fellner, the editor of the "Oysterreich" tabloid, said that by speaking openly about corruption and dirty tricks, Strache tarnished Austria's reputation, Reuters reported.
"From Germany to Hungary, we are now considered a banana republic".
Kurz said that Kikl cannot oversee the investigation into the trap into which the leader of his party fell.
Kikl, one of the most famous politicians in Austria, accused Kurac of trying to seize power for his People's Party (OVP).
"For many years, this ministry has been the axis of the engine of the OVP's ruthless system of rule in this republic," Kikl said, adding that Kurz believes that "therefore, it must be returned under the control of the OVP, regardless of the cost."
His position is particularly sensitive given the FPO's ties to Russia. It has a cooperation agreement with the United Russia party of President Vladimir Putin.
An Austrian opposition lawmaker said last month that British and Dutch spy agencies have greatly limited the amount of intelligence they share with Austria, largely because of the FPO's ties to Russia.
The conflict in the government is a reflection of the efforts of traditional European parties to prevent the rise of populist and nationalist forces ahead of the elections for the European Parliament, which could bring them a record performance.
As one poll showed Sebastian Kurz's conservatives could boost support to 28 percent in the next national election from 32 percent in 2017, he urged voters not to support the far-right or the left in Sunday's election.
Strahe said that the meeting in Ibiza did not lead to any business transaction and claims that the only crime that occurred was the illegal filming of a private party.
New FPO leader Norber Hofer, Strache's longtime ally, promised an investigation into the party's finances, saying Strache's behavior was unacceptable.
Kikl is the most controversial minister in the government, especially because during his tenure the police raided the premises of the main state intelligence service, the Federal Service for the Protection of the Constitution and the Fight against Terrorism (BVT), which he oversees.
Opposition politicians have accused the hardliner Kikl of trying to carry out a purge in the ranks of the BVT, which he denies.
The Germans warned against sharing intelligence
The president of Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV, the domestic intelligence agency) warned the lower house of parliament this Sunday that there is a "significant risk" in sharing intelligence with Austria, Velt am Sontag reported.
"This is based on the assumption that Austria could misuse and, in case of need, pass on to Russia the information it receives from partner states such as Germany," Velt wrote, adding that the president of the BfV had conveyed those suspicions to the Austrian authorities.
Russia said it had "nothing to do" with the political scandal in Austria.
"I cannot comment on the appearance of that video, which has nothing to do with Russia, nor with the president (Vladimir Putin) or the government. I do not know who the woman in the video is or whether she is a Russian citizen or of Russian origin," the spokesman said. Kremlin Dmitry Peskov.
The "Russian woman" from the video introduced herself as Alyona Makarova, the "niece" of oligarch Igor Makarov, who denied being related to her.
"It is known that I am the only child in my family and that I have no nephews," Makarov told the Russian edition of "Forbes".
"I don't know her at all," he added.
"Zidejche Zeitung" announced that Makarov is close to Putin.
Makarov is the founder of Itera (now Areti), the first Russian private gas company. He is on the 48th place on the list of the richest Russians and is estimated to be worth 2,1 billion euros.
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