Austria’s ‘Ibiza scandal’, explained
Sting operation on far-right leader leaves Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s coalition dreams in tatters
A sting operation that has already led to the resignation of Austria’s far-right deputy chancellor and the collapse of the ruling coalition could have even greater consequences for the European Union, commentators have warned.
“Enough is enough,” said the nation’s chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, as he announced that his centre-right Austrian People’s party (ÖVP) was abandoning its coalition with the nationalist group and called snap elections, expected to be held in September.
Who was involved in the sting?
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
On Friday night, a video sent to journalists at German newspapers Der Spiegel and Süddeutsche Zeitung was leaked to the public. The footage showed Heinz-Christian Strache, Austrian deputy chancellor and leader of the far-right Freedom party (FPÖ), trying to trade public contracts for party donations from a woman he believed to be the wealthy niece of a Russian oligarch.
They also discussed the idea of taking over Austria's best-selling newspaper to turn it into a party propaganda organ. In the footage, the woman offers to buy a 50% stake in Kronen Zeitung and switch its editorial position to support the Freedom Party. In exchange, Strache said he could award her public contracts, explaining that he wanted to “build a media landscape like [Victor] Orban”, a reference to Hungary's authoritarian prime minister.
The BBC reports it is not known who recorded the video, and “neither is it clear who set up the meeting, which allegedly took place at a villa on the Spanish island of Ibiza in July 2017 - before the FPÖ joined the new government”.
What happened over the weekend?
The so-called ‘Ibiza scandal’ has had a dramatic and immediate impact.
Strache and his parliamentary leader, Johann Gudenus, resigned on Saturday, saying their behaviour was “stupid, irresponsible and a mistake”.
In a brief statement to the press announcing the snap elections, Chancellor Kurz described the many challenges he faced in recent months in dealing with Strache’s Freedom Party, “which despite its alignment with the chancellor’s center-right People’s Party on policy issues, remained a lightning rod for criticism with its racist comments and other controversies” says Politico.
“From publication to government collapse took just 26 hours”, says the Financial Times.
What will the wider impact be?
Politico says “coming just days before next week’s European Parliament election, the episode has rocked the political landscape in both Austria and Europe, where the Alpine nation’s non-traditional coalition was seen as an experiment in the viability of alliances that pair mainstream parties with populists”.
“It was a gamble celebrated by both moderates and hardliners on the right across Europe as a model: a blueprint to contain populist anger, or else a road map towards the reshaping of the EU’s liberal political agenda,” says the FT. “Now, with just days until critical EU parliamentary elections, the Austrian template is in tatters.”
“Centrist leaders across Europe hope the fallout from the ‘Ibiza scandal’ will be felt beyond Austria in the European parliament elections this week, in which populist, nationalist and far-right parties have been forecast to make gains” writes Philip Oltermann in The Guardian.
“Strache’s apparent eagerness to embrace corruption is in stark contrast to the ‘drain the swamp’ rhetoric populists routinely deploy in their attempts to portray politics as a battle by decent ordinary people against a venal elite” he adds.
“Austria is at the center of a battle of ideas between liberal Western democrats and populist forces allied with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” says the New York Times.
Foreign intelligence services have already stopped sharing sensitive information with Austria for fear that it may leak to Moscow, and despite denials by the Kremlin, the paper says the video “raised questions about whether Russia had direct influence inside a government at the heart of Europe”.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Is the Gaza war tearing U.S. campuses apart?
Today's Big Question Protests at Columbia University, other institutions, pit free speech against student safety
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
DOJ settles with Nassar victims for $138M
Speed Read The settlement includes 139 sexual abuse victims of the former USA Gymnastics doctor
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
14 recent scientific breakthroughs
In Depth From photos of the infant universe to an energy advancement that could save the planet
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Myanmar: the Spring Revolution and the downfall of the generals
Talking Point An armed protest movement has swept across the country since the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown in 2021
By The Week Staff Published
-
Israel hits Iran with retaliatory airstrike
Speed Read The attack comes after Iran's drone and missile barrage last weekend
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Is there a peaceful way forward for Israel and Iran?
Today's Big Question Tehran has initially sought to downplay the latest Israeli missile strike on its territory
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Sudan on brink of collapse after a year of war
Speed Read 18 million people face famine as the country continues its bloody downward spiral
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How powerful is Iran?
Today's big question Islamic republic is facing domestic dissent and 'economic peril' but has a vast military, dangerous allies and a nuclear threat
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
US, Israel brace for Iran retaliatory strikes
Speed Read An Iranian attack on Israel is believed to be imminent
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How green onions could swing South Korea's election
The Explainer Country's president has fallen foul of the oldest trick in the campaign book, not knowing the price of groceries
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Ukraine's battle to save Kharkiv from Putin's drones
The Explainer Country's second-largest city has been under almost daily attacks since February amid claims Russia wants to make it uninhabitable
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published