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Austria far-right leader targeted in embezzlement investigation

Prosecutors said Monday they had launched an investigation into Austria's far-right leader and several former government members on suspicion of embezzling public money to pay for adverts in return for alleged favourable coverage.

Published: 30 April 2024 09:40 CEST

Austria far-right leader targeted in embezzlement investigation

The leader of the FPÖ and former Austrian Interior Minister Herbert Kickl waves the Austrian flag as he arrives on stage to address supporters at an election rally of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPOe) in Vienna. (Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP)

Prosecutors said the investigation into several former government members for alleged bribery, corruption, and breach of trust was opened in mid-April.

Herbert Kickl, the hardline leader of Austria’s right-wing Freedom Party (FPOe)—currently leading polls ahead of elections expected in September—is suspected of commissioning adverts and paying for them with public money.

The alleged embezzlement occurred between January 2018 and May 2019, when Kickl was Austria’s acting interior minister.

Prosecutors suspect that in exchange for allegedly promising favourable media coverage of the FPOe, a major tabloid received lucrative adverts.

The former government members, including Kickl, are alleged to “have commissioned… adverts and had them paid from public funds,” the state economic crime and corruption prosecutor (WKStA) said in a statement.

Austria’s former vice-chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache and his former deputy Norbert Hofer are also being probed.

According to APA news agency, the FPOe dismissed the investigation, saying it was “relaxed” about the probe and “one hundred percent convinced” that it would be closed.

In late 2021, a major media graft scandal erupted in the Alpine country. Austria’s former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and his inner circle were accused of using public funds to pay for polls skewed to boost his image.

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Austria 'fully supports' Britain's Rwanda asylum policy, Chancellor says

Conservative Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said during a joint press statement with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that Austria “fully supports the British path”.

Under the controversial scheme set up by non-EU Britain, irregular arrivals will be denied the right to request asylum in the UK and sent instead to Rwanda.

Nehammer spoke of the UK being a “pioneer” for the European Union with its “Rwanda model”, broadcaster ORF reported. Austria and the UK are “strategic partners when it comes to ensuring that asylum procedures take place in safe third countries”, said the Chancellor.

He added that the British model is a way to tackle organised crime and end the “dying in the Mediterranean”. However, there is still a long way to go within the EU, according to the Chancellor.

During the brief press conference, Sunak underscored the shared commitment to addressing illegal migration, calling it ‘one of the defining issues of our time’.

Joint letter by EU leaders

PM Sunak, during his visit to Vienna, commended a joint letter by Austria and 14 other EU countries. The letter aims to propose ‘new ideas’ for handling undocumented migrants, including the possibility of sending some to third countries.

The letter to the European Commission comes ahead of June’s European Union elections in which far-right anti-immigration parties are forecast to make gains and as the bloc juggles how to implement a recently adopted overhaul of its asylum rules.

READ ALSO: Austria joins countries calling for asylum centres outside EU

Sunak expressed his enthusiasm about the proactive stance of the 15 countries, stating his intention to continue building alliances in the fight against irregular migration.

“We have to pursue new ideas, new solutions and deterrents, removals to safe third countries like the UK’s pioneering Rwanda scheme,” Sunak said.

The 15 countries said in their letter that they wanted the EU to toughen its asylum and migration pact.

They said it should be easier to send asylum seekers to third countries while their requests for protection are assessed.

Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania signed the letter, but not EU heavyweights France, Germany and Spain.

According to the bloc’s asylum agency, asylum applications in the EU surged to over one million last year, a seven-year high. Syrians and Afghans were the top groups seeking protection.

READ ALSO: Border centres and ‘safe’ states: EU gives go-ahead to major asylum changes

While Germany received nearly one-third of asylum bids, Cyprus, Austria, and Greece had the highest proportion in relation to their populations.

Austria’s anti-immigrant, far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) leads in polls to Nehammer’s conservative People’s Party (OeVP).

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