The Austrian government fell By a scandal of co …

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz yesterday announced the end of his coalition government with the far right and called for early elections. This decision resulted from the resignation of his number two, Heinz-Christian Strache, following the broadcast of a Friday registration involving corruption cases. "I suggested to the President of the Republic to hold elections as soon as possible," Kurz said in a televised speech. "Enough, that's enough," he added.

The German media Süddeutsche Zeitung and Der Spiegel have released a video recorded as part of a hidden camera in which the leader of the FPO is seen discussing with a woman who claims to be the niece of a diplomat Russian on the possibility of financial support in exchange. access to Austrian public markets. Strache explains to the woman how to give money illegally to her training and suggests she take control of Kronen Zeitung, the country's most influential newspaper. "I made a mistake," acknowledged Strache, also resigning from the leadership of the FPÖ.

The Chancellor of the Austrian People's Party tried to detach himself from the alliance he had formed with the Strache FPO in the 2017 elections, stating that he felt embarrbaded by this ultra formation, his anti-Semitic and xenophobic ideas. "Although I did not always say it publicly, there were some very difficult situations for me to swallow, but for the rest of the work, I did not finish with the coalition at the beginning," he said. He insists. "The seriousness of what you see in the video are ideas of abuse of power," he added.

A week before the European elections, this scandal represents a political earthquake for the party, one of the most influential nationalist formations of the European Union, combined with the far-right movements of Matteo Salvini in Italy and Marine Le Pen in France.