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October 11, 2021 – 11:31 am clock
“I hate him, Bussi Thomas”
After the political earthquake in Austria, more and more details are known that do not shed a good light on the resigned Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) throw. Excerpts from chat messages show a different picture of Sebastian Kurz than the public had before. It’s about messages that were found on the cell phone of the influential politician and lobbyist Thomas Schmid.
Schmid is considered a key figure in the affair
Thomas Schmid is said to have a relationship of trust with Kurz. (Archive photo, March 6, 2020)
These messages from and to the former Secretary General in the Austrian Ministry of Finance triggered the investigation by the Economic and Corruption Public Prosecutor’s Office (WKStA) against Kurz and people close to him. Schmid is considered a key figure in the affair. Close colleagues of the Chancellor are suspected of having bought well-meaning reporting in a media company in order to pave the way for Kurz from 2016 to the party leadership and to the Federal Chancellery. Kurz himself is also listed as a suspect.
The data confiscated from Thomas Schmid suggest that there was a close relationship between him and Kurz. Kurz now says that he barely knew Schmid before he became Chancellor in 2016.
“House of Cards” in Austria – These chats expose Kurz’s machinations
“That is what makes a friendship”
Sebastian Shortly after his resignation as Chancellor of Austria
The public prosecutor sees it differently. There is a lot to suggest that the two “have been good friends for many years,” it says. So they would have agreed to go hiking more often. In 2018, Schmid was reprimanded by Kurz for divulging internals. The next day he wrote to the Chancellor at the time, “Thank you for calling me right away and concreting it. That makes a friendship,” reports the “Spiegel”.
The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) reports on the chat logs, they “draw a moral picture of a kind of political dealings that at least raise questions.” When the former ÖVP boss Reinhold Mitterlehner published a book in 2019, Schmid wrote to Kurz: “These old idiots are so unbearable! Nobody ever had to stand for a federal election and explain the nonsense of their predecessors! You did everything successfully and we were allowed to participate Mitterlehner is a left-wing dilettante and a huge oasch !! I hate him Bussi Thomas “
“Please, can I instigate a state?”
Chancellor Kurz replies: “Thank you, Thomas, it was great that Spindi (note: this means the well-known ÖVP politician Michael Spindelegger) left today. That surely bothers the ass the most …” In another context, Kurz asked Schmid the little statesmanlike question : “Please, can I incite a state?”
Even if the news did not suggest that Kurz had prompted Schmid or others to take criminally relevant acts, they showed that both had worked closely together and that a “special relationship of trust” existed. According to the WKStA, this was the basis for “cooperation around the purchased reporting”, according to the ORF.
It is about these allegations
Anti-Kurz demonstration in front of the ÖVP headquarters in Vienna
According to the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office Kurz’s close colleagues are suspected of having bought well-meaning reporting in a media companyin order to pave the way to the party leadership and the Federal Chancellery for Kurz from 2016 onwards. For this money from the Ministry of Finance is said to have been misappropriated. The investigators see in Kurz a participant in the crimes of infidelity and corruption.
Kurz denies the allegations. In a seven-minute speech on his resignation, he again emphasized his innocence. But he is giving up his position out of responsibility for the country, he says. However, he remains ÖVP boss and thus has far-reaching powers: He can alone determine the government team, the lists of candidates in parliamentary elections and the political line of the ÖVP. (uvo; sources: ORF; Spiegel, dpa)