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Recall: “Austrian government collapses as far right leader caught in video sting Posted: Sun, 19 May 2019 04:26:18 -0400
 Austria raced on Saturday toward a snap election as Chancellor Sebastian Kurz pulled the plug on his coalition with the far right after its leader was caught on video offering to fix state contracts with a woman posing as a Russian oligarch’s niece. http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/Reuters/worldNews/~3/OCpFlEqjN20/austrian-government-collapses-as-far-right-leader-caught-in-video-sting-idUSKCN1SN2RA
https://miningawareness.wordpress.com/2019/05/19/austrian-chancellor-pulled-plug-on-coalition-with-russian-linked-vice-chancellor-who-offered-state-contracts-to-russian-in-exchange-for-support/ The Austrian Vice Chancellor Strache’s “party has a cooperation agreement with Russia’s ruling United Russia party”, as explained in the Reuters article.

From VOA News:
“Austrian Chancellor Kurz Ousted by Parliament
May 27, 2019 11:03 AM
UPDATE May 27, 2019 11:55 AM
By Ken Bredemeier
The Austrian parliament ousted Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in a no-confidence vote Monday, pushing him out of office in the aftermath of a corruption scandal that had ended his coalition government.

 The ouster of Kurz, at 32 the world’s youngest head of government, and his Austrian People’s Party was led by the opposition Social Democrats, but backed by the far-right Freedom Party, Kurz’s one-time coalition partner.

Austria’s President Alexander Van der Bellen will now pick a chancellor to head a caretaker government ahead of elections expected in September.

Kurz and his party had a strong showing in Sunday’s European Union elections, but it was not enough to save him from becoming the first Austrian chancellor in post-World War II history to lose a confidence vote.

On Facebook, he accused his opponents of a “game of revenge.” But he added, “At the end of the day the people will decide, namely in September.”

Kurz’s coalition came apart after the emergence of a video damaging to Freedom Party leader and former vice-chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache. In the video, Strache appears to be offering the purported niece of a Russian oligarch public contracts if she would buy a large stake in the Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung and make it support the Freedom Party.

The ensuing scandal has been dubbed Ibiza-gate after the Spanish island where the video was recorded in 2017, weeks before the election that brought Kurz and his Freedom Party partners to power. It remains unclear who made the video or why it took so long to emerge.

Strache is heard on the video saying he wanted to “build a media landscape like [Viktor] Orban,” referring to Hungary’s nationalist, anti-immigration leader.

Strache stepped down as vice-chancellor within hours after the video emerged. Van der Bellen, at Kurz’s request, then fired Freedom Party Interior Minister Herbert Kickl, a move that prompted other Freedom Party ministers to resign in solidarity.

Ahead of the no-confidence vote, Kurz told parliament, “I am very proud and satisfied with the work we have done as a government in the past year and a half.”

On Sunday, Kurz’s center-right Austrian People’s Party finished first in Austria in the European Parliament elections with 34.9%. The Social Democrats won 23.6% and the Freedom Party took 18.1%.” https://www.voanews.com/a/austrian-lawmakers-vote-kurz-s-government-out-of-office/4934177.html

Excerpt from Kurz’ facebook page statement:
“Ein Video der FPÖ hat ein Bild von Politik gezeigt, das widerlicher nicht sein könnte. Fantasien von Machtmissbrauch, Korruption und Medienkontrolle haben ein Weiterregieren der FPÖ unmöglich gemacht. Neuwahlen waren nicht mein Wunsch, sondern eine Notwendigkeit.“. Read the entire statement here: https://facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2220845258007135&id=105151752909840

And, web site: https://www.sebastian-kurz.at

“Austria’s Interim Ministers Sworn in After Video Scandal“, May 22, 2019
https://www.voanews.com/a/austrias-interim-ministers-sworn-in-after-video-scandal/4927771.html