Corruption affair in Austria: Kurz’s confidant refused to testify

In the corruption affair surrounding Austria’s ex-Chancellor Kurz, his former confidante Schmid was to testify before the U-Committee today. Surprisingly, Schmid then announced that he would refuse to testify. He pointed to the danger of self-incrimination.

The meeting of the investigative committee scheduled for today in Vienna, which is investigating the corruption scandal in the ÖVP, was eagerly awaited. Because Thomas Schmid was supposed to testify before the committee – a former top official in the Ministry of Finance, former head of the Austrian state holding company ÖBAG and former confidant of the former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

But Schmid dropped the statement before the parliamentary committee of inquiry. On the one hand, he runs the risk of incriminating himself in this way, the 47-year-old justified his decision. On the other hand, he stated that his questioning by the public prosecutor’s office had not yet been completed.

The chairman of the committee, Doris Bures, reacted with criticism to Schmid’s withdrawn statement and threatened a fine if this refusal proved to be unjustified.

Schmid faces punishment

For months, the deputies had waited for Schmid to appear. The disappointment was correspondingly great afterwards. The FPÖ spoke of one of the “blackest days of parliamentarism”.

The questioning in the committee involved a question-and-answer game. The parliamentarians presented their questions twice, each time Schmid refused. That could now be expensive for him: the U-Committee now wants to apply for a refusal to comply with the Federal Administrative Court. The penalty can amount to 500 to 5,000 euros, or even 10,000 euros if the offense is repeated.

Dispute about the content of the survey

In the run-up to the expected statement, there had already been a dispute about what content Schmid could be asked about at all. Finally, with the exception of the ÖVP, all parties involved agreed that the issues on which the public prosecutor’s office had not yet finally questioned Schmid should be excluded.

In order to prevent the ÖVP from asking other questions, their coalition partner resorted to a trick. In a one-off step, the Green Minister of Justice appealed to the Constitutional Court. He should clarify whether Schmid can be questioned about the uncompleted topics. A verdict is still pending, but according to the law, the U-Committee cannot ask anything pending before the Supreme Court.

Schmid supports allegations against Kurz

Schmid’s latest statements had caused a stir in Austria and put a heavy burden on ex-Chancellor Kurz. In the Ministry of Finance, Schmid claims to have been involved in bringing Kurz to power with partially falsified surveys. Schmid is said to have come to the top of ÖBAG with Kurz’s help. He denies both.

“How free the will can be is questionable”

In a special session of the National Council, other ÖVP politicians again questioned the truthfulness of Schmid’s statements, such as MP Corinna Scharzenberger: “It’s about an interrogation protocol of a Mr. Schmid, who wants to negotiate a special status with the WKStA (business and corruption prosecutor’s office). as a key witness.”

In order for him to become a key witness, he had to make a significant contribution to the investigation, the whole thing had to happen voluntarily – and thirdly, “inner repentance” was needed, Schwarzenberger continued. “It’s questionable how free the will can be when that’s practically the only way out.”

Opposition calls for new elections

The opposition sees the federal government as unable to act as a result of the scandal and is calling for new elections. Corresponding motions did not go through in Parliament because of the government majority.