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Austria president urges reforms after fresh graft revelations

Austria's president Alexander Van der Bellen on Thursday called for wide-ranging reforms of the country's political culture following fresh revelations over a graft scandal, which led then-chancellor Sebastian Kurz to resign last year.

Published: 20 October 2022 18:19 CEST
Austria president urges reforms after fresh graft revelations
Austria's President Alexander van der Bellen addresses journalists at Hofburg Palace. (Photo by Joe Klamar / AFP)

Austrian politics has been rocked by a series of corruption scandals with Kurz’s resignation in 2021 marking a spectacular fall for a politician who had been hailed as the “Wunderkind” of Europe’s conservatives.

In statements to federal prosecutors leaked to media and reported on Tuesday, Thomas Schmid, a former senior official of the Austrian finance ministry and close aide of the ex-chancellor, incriminated Kurz and his conservative People’s Party (OeVP) by accusing them of misappropriating public money to pay for polls, which were skewed to boost Kurz’s image.

“We need a complete overhaul,” President Alexander Van der Bellen said in a televised address on Thursday, alluding to Austria’s political culture being repeatedly tainted by corruption.

“A transparent, comprehensible and, above all, perceptible general restructuring… is needed.”

READ ALSO: Austria’s Sebastian Kurz implicated by former ally in corruption scandal

“This is about democracy in our home country and trust in democracy, which is once again being massively shaken,” he added, calling corruption “a paralysing poison”.

According to Van der Bellen, new legislative elections are not justified at the moment.

Schmid, himself implicated in the major corruption scandal, had approached federal prosecutors in April, requesting to be a key witness, the state economic crime and corruption prosecutor (WKStA) said on Tuesday.

Since June, Schmid has been interrogated for “15 full days” by the federal prosecutors, they said.

‘Order from Kurz’

According to the testimony, Kurz allegedly knew that the polls aimed at helping him win the OeVP’s chairmanship and the chancellor’s office were funded by the Austrian finance ministry.

“Yes, he was aware of that… I only implemented this tool because I received the order from Kurz”, Schmid said referring to the commissioned polls.

“I promoted Kurz and the OeVP through the federal ministry of finance, used the resources of it to support the advancement of the OeVP under Sebastian Kurz,” Schmid added.

Schmid alleged Kurz also asked him to make a statement to exonerate Kurz of all blame.

READ ALSO: Austrian presidential elections: What exactly does the president do?

Kurz had countered his former ally’s “false accusations” by supplying to the WKStA a recording of a phone conservation between the two of them.

Kurz has announced that he would take legal action against Schmid.

The current scandal erupted in October 2021 when prosecutors ordered raids at the chancellery and the finance ministry while investigating allegations that Kurz’s inner circle used public money to pay for favourable polls.

BACKGROUND: EXPLAINED: Why was Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz forced to resign?

Prosecutors also suspect that in return for the polls, and fawning coverage of Kurz, tabloid Oesterreich received lucrative public adverts.

Kurz resigned in October and left politics in December, with his former interior minister now running the country.

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POLITICS

Why 1.5 million people can’t vote in Austria’s crucial federal election

Almost one in five people in Austria won’t have a say in the upcoming election, mainly due to the country’s restrictive citizenship laws.

Published: 11 September 2024 10:15 CEST
Updated: 15 September 2024 08:19 CEST
Why 1.5 million people can't vote in Austria's crucial federal election

As Austria prepares for its upcoming National Council elections on September 29th, nearly 1.5 million people living in the country will be unable to participate despite being of voting age, Austrian media has reported.

This group, which represents around 19 percent of the population aged 16 and over, is largely composed of residents who do not hold Austrian citizenship.

While Austria has some of the most restrictive citizenship laws in the world, the election will still see some new eligible voters—particularly descendants of Nazi regime victims—casting their ballots for the first time, thanks to a 2019 amendment to the citizenship law that made the naturalisation process less restrictive for these cases. Among them is British actor Stephen Fry, whose grandmother fled Austria to escape Nazi persecution.

READ ALSO: Austria improves nationality law for descendants of Nazi victims

Over the past two decades, the number of residents not eligible to vote has more than doubled, from around 9 percent in 2002 to 19 percent today. Of the 1.5 million residents unable to vote, about half are citizens of other EU countries. While they are allowed to vote in EU elections, they are excluded from Austria’s national elections.

This growing number of non-voters contrasts with the shrinking pool of eligible voters. Despite having around 6.3 million eligible voters, Austria’s stringent naturalisation process means that only a small fraction of its long-term foreign residents can (or want to) attain citizenship and the right to vote.

READ ALSO: What makes Austrian citizenship so hard to get?

Who is eligible for citizenship in Austria?

Currently in Austria, if someone wants to take up citizenship via naturalisation they have to undergo an extensive and expensive process and fulfil specific criteria.

Generally, there needs to be at least 10 years of lawful and uninterrupted residence in Austria. But there are exceptions for those with citizenship of an EU or EEA country, those born in Austria, or married to an Austrian, for example.

The main hurdles, however, include having to give up any other citizenships, as Austria doesn’t allow dual citizenship in naturalisation cases with few exceptions, and paying a high fee, which depends on the municipality.

What’s at stake?

The elections will determine the composition of the National Council, Austria’s parliament. The far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) is currently leading in the polls, followed by the centre-right Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP). The results could significantly change the country’s political landscape.

While many are still unable to vote, Austria’s decision to grant citizenship to descendants of Nazi regime victims has (slightly) expanded the voter base. 

Under this provision, around 27,800 people, mostly living abroad, have regained Austrian citizenship. The Foreign Ministry has encouraged these new citizens to participate in the elections.

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