Ibiza scandal
Trial against Austria’s ex-Chancellor Kurz begins – that’s what it’s about
Two years after his resignation, the former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has to answer in court on suspicion of making false statements
© Joe Klamar / AFP
Sebastian Kurz’s statement in the Ibiza investigative committee led to a lawsuit. It’s about the background of a top person – and also about the reputation of politics.
The media interest is enormous. Around 100 journalists have registered for the trial against Austria’s former chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) registered. “The 40 visitor cards have long since been allocated,” says a spokeswoman for the Vienna Regional Court. The 37-year-old is charged with suspicion of making false statements. He is said to have lied to the Ibiza investigation committee of the Austrian parliament when he described his role in the awarding of the top job in the state holding company Öbag.
The public prosecutor’s indictment, which includes two other suspects in addition to Kurz, has 108 pages. The former head of government vehemently denies all allegations. It is certain that the previously scheduled negotiation days on October 18th, 20th and 23rd will not be enough. The penalty for the offense is up to three years in prison.
The opposition accuses Sebastian Kurz of making false statements
The Ibiza Committee of Inquiry was set up to uncover possible job haggling and corruption in the Kurz government. In June 2020, the then Chancellor and ÖVP leader Kurz was interviewed as a respondent for four hours. Regarding the top personnel at the newly established state holding company Öbag, the MPs wanted to know how involved Kurz was in the appointment of his confidant Thomas Schmid as the new Öbag boss. “Involved in the sense of informed, yes,” Kurz replies at one point. When asked whether he was responsible for planning the personnel, Kurz said, according to parliamentary minutes: “It wasn’t my responsibility, but as far as I can remember, he informed me at some point that he was going to apply.”
From the point of view of the opposition MPs, Kurz lied because he actually played a much more active role. It was reported in March 2021. The public prosecutor’s investigations resulted in the criminal complaint. Also charged on suspicion of making false statements are Bernhard Bonelli, then head of cabinet in the Federal Chancellery, and the former ÖVP deputy party leader Bettina Glatz-Kremsner, general director of Casinos Austria and chairwoman of the board of the Austrian Lotteries until March 2022. They also deny the allegations.
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Prosecution: Chats show Kurz’s deep involvement in events surrounding the state holding company
The investigators base their allegations on the “most famous cell phone in Austria,” as Justice Minister Alma Zadic (Greens) calls Schmid’s cell phone. Months after the Ibiza affair was exposed in 2019 – in a secretly recorded video, the then FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache appeared vulnerable to corruption – Schmid’s cell phone was also confiscated. The Öbag boss, previously in a key role in the Finance Ministry, had deleted 300,000 WhatsApp messages about events in the innermost circles of the government, but they were able to be restored by investigators. In the meantime, Schmid has served as a possible key witness against Kurz.
According to the prosecution, the chats show that the then Chancellor was deeply involved in the events surrounding the state holding company, which manages the state’s billion-dollar holdings in various companies. “And beyond the legal aspect, they were also a disturbing moral portrait that confirmed for many the impression that politicians are concerned with power and not with the country,” says political scientist Peter Filzmaier. A few days before he took up his post as Öbag boss, Schmid wrote to Kurz: “Please don’t make me a board member without mandates. That would be like being a Vienna city councilor without a portfolio.” Kurz replied: “You’ll get everything you want anyway.” Schmid: “I’m so happy” – “I love my chancellor.”
Kurz is not the first top Austrian politician to stand trial, but the proceedings come at a time of particularly deep mistrust in politics. “In a small country like Austria, gangs, agreements and possible haggling for positions are not far away,” says Filzmaier.
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According to Transparency International, Austria does not have the best reputation when it comes to corruption. When it comes to the corruption index, the country is only in the European midfield and has recently lost further places, says Georg Krakow from Transparency Austria. “We have a huge amount of homework to do so that trust in democracy and politics can be restored.” This includes a reform of the lobbying law so that it becomes transparent who is trying to influence whom in politics, says Krakow. “Officials must behave in such a way that they are above any suspicion of corruption,” he demanded.
Kurz now runs a cybersecurity company with 50 employees in Tel Aviv as well as a consulting and investment company. He resigned as Chancellor in the fall of 2021 and shortly afterwards left politics completely.
An indictment in the so-called advertising affair could be much more explosive than the current trial for the conservative, who was once known as a “wonder wuzzi”. This involves embellished surveys and government advertisements in tabloid newspapers, which are said to have been paid for with tax money. Several people are being investigated on suspicion of infidelity, bribery and corruption. Here too, Kurz denies the allegations.