Strache the head of Austria's right-wing populist FPO party, met with a purported russian multi

[Litwin]

this is how putler´s kleptocracy works, its in Your country for sure , so are you ready to stop it once and forever?

"
Caught in the Trap

Heinz-Christian Strache, the head of Austria's right-wing populist FPÖ party, met with a purported Russian multimillionaire on Ibiza in July 2017. She offered him campaign support in exchange for public contracts. What he didn't know was that the entire exchange was being recorded by hidden cameras.

" https://projekte.sueddeutsche.de/artikel/politik/caught-in-the-trap-e675751/

 

[Rogue Valley]

Austrian far-right leader quits over video sting as coalition teeters

Austrian Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache (right) with Russian woman -- kompromat. If you look closely, there is a line of coke on the table.

5/17/19
VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria’s vice chancellor and longtime far-right leader, Heinz-Christian Strache, said on Saturday he was stepping down over “catastrophic” video footage of him that threatened to bring down the right-wing coalition government. Freedom Party (FPO) leader Strache was shown in the footage of as-yet unknown origin meeting a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch in 2017, shortly before the election that brought him to power. In the footage published by German media on Friday evening, a week before European Parliament elections, he appears to offer to funnel contracts toward a company in exchange for political and financial support.

In return for Russian campaign cash, Strache offers the Russian woman (agent) assistance in seeing that the Russians could purchase multiple Austrian media companies (of course for propaganda purposes).

 

[Litwin]

Austrian far-right leader quits over video sting as coalition teeters

Austrian Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache (right) with Russian woman -- kompromat. If you look closely, there is a line of coke on the table.



In return for Russian campaign cash, Strache offers the Russian woman (agent) assistance in seeing that the Russians could purchase multiple Austrian media companies (of course for propaganda purposes).

look like a gang bang with putler´s spy took place as well , why far- rightists have never learn from Trump mistake ?

 

[Infinite Chaos]

~ In return for Russian campaign cash ~

And people don't think the Russians had any benefit in supporting Brexit. In another world, this would be like the story of the scorpion and the fox but in the UK, the "Brexit fox" is still alive and very much kicking. Heinz Christian Strache on the other hand, isn't so lucky.

Austrian Chancellor has called for a snap election. Let's see how the populace react, hopefully for the better....

 

[Unitedwestand13]

Austria's Vice Chancellor Quits After Video Surfaces Of Meeting With Russian Investor

NPR reports

Austria's vice chancellor has resigned after German media published a video that purportedly showed him offering government contracts to a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch, in exchange for media coverage and political funding.

The scandal drove Chancellor Sebastian Kurz to call for snap elections instead of trying to revive his weakened coalition government. "Enough is enough," he told reporters on Saturday in Vienna.

Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache announced he would step down earlier in the day at a press conference in the capital. Crowds stood outside the chancellor's office waiting for news.

Strache, who leads Austria's far-right Freedom Party, described the incident as a "targeted political assassination."

It comes less than a week before European Parliament elections.

On Friday, German news magazine Der Spiegel and daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung published the calamitous video. It shows Strache sitting on a couch in a T-shirt, discussing potential deals with a Russian investor.

She proposes to buy a 50% stake in Austria's Kronen-Zeitung newspaper and Strache promises her construction contracts if she helps his political party. The group also discusses how to disguise a donation to the party through an association. Their meeting was said to have lasted six hours.

Austria's Vice Chancellor Quits In The Wake Of A Video Scandal : NPR

 

[Litwin]

And people don't think the Russians had any benefit in supporting Brexit. In another world, this would be like the story of the scorpion and the fox but in the UK, the "Brexit fox" is still alive and very much kicking. Heinz Christian Strache on the other hand, isn't so lucky.

Austrian Chancellor has called for a snap election. Let's see how the populace react, hopefully for the better....

what cooperative ozero does in EU we all know ...

 

[Litwin]

Austrian far-right leader quits over video sting as coalition teeters

Austrian Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache (right) with Russian woman -- kompromat. If you look closely, there is a line of coke on the table.



In return for Russian campaign cash, Strache offers the Russian woman (agent) assistance in seeing that the Russians could purchase multiple Austrian media companies (of course for propaganda purposes).

Austria chancellor calls for snap election after corruption scandal - BBC News

Austria chancellor calls for snap election after corruption scandal

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

Austrian government collapses as far right leader caught in video sting

From Reuters

Austrian government collapses as far right leader caught in video sting
​

VIENNA (Reuters) - 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.

The far-right Freedom Party’s Heinz-Christian Strache resigned as vice chancellor and party leader after the video was released by two German news organizations. He acknowledged that the video was “catastrophic” but denied breaking the law.

Kurz, a conservative who formed a coalition with the Freedom Party a year and a half ago, said the apparent video sting, in which Strache discusses contracts in return for financial or political favors, was the last straw in the relationship.

COMMENT:-

Possibly not all that earthshaking from an American perspective, but I did find the defence position that runs along the lines of

​

"We were caught before we could actually do anything illegal so that means we are **I*N*N*O*C*E*N*T** and continuing to dwell on the fact that we were seriously talking about doing something illegal is outright persecution."
​

to be as amusing as anyone in the US would find it if any American political figure were to be dumb enough to attempt it.

Don't you?
​

 

[Infinite Chaos]

Re: Austrian government collapses as far right leader caught in video sting

~

Austrian government collapses as far right leader caught in video sting
​

~

Third such thread on this topic.

Strache the head of Austria's right-wing populist FPO party, met with a purported russian multi

Austria's Vice Chancellor Quits After Video Surfaces Of Meeting With Russian Investor

 

[poweRob]

I sure hope the West shakes all this off and comes back together tighter than they were before all this russian interference. Bolster the **** out of NATO and drop a couple goddamn bases in Ukraine after we invite them into the UN.

**** that pissant putin.

 

[Litwin]

I sure hope the West shakes all this off and comes back together tighter than they were before all this russian interference. Bolster the **** out of NATO and drop a couple goddamn bases in Ukraine after we invite them into the UN.

**** that pissant putin.

And people don't think the Russians had any benefit in supporting Brexit. In another world, this would be like the story of the scorpion and the fox but in the UK, the "Brexit fox" is still alive and very much kicking. Heinz Christian Strache on the other hand, isn't so lucky.

Austrian Chancellor has called for a snap election. Let's see how the populace react, hopefully for the better....

Austrian far-right leader quits over video sting as coalition teeters

Austrian Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache (right) with Russian woman -- kompromat. If you look closely, there is a line of coke on the table.



In return for Russian campaign cash, Strache offers the Russian woman (agent) assistance in seeing that the Russians could purchase multiple Austrian media companies (of course for propaganda purposes).

entire central europe is in big danger , specially its bank sector


"BUDAPEST — The International Investment Bank, an obscure Russian financial institution with a small-time balance sheet, is an unlikely source of global intrigue. In more normal times, its plans to open a new headquarters in Budapest would pass unnoticed.

But the bank’s chairman has longstanding ties to Russian intelligence agencies. And the Hungarian Parliament has effectively granted the bank diplomatic immunity from any scrutiny by police or financial regulators — leaving Western security officials concerned that Russian spies could use it as a base to conduct European intelligence operations.

Several European nations have expelled Russian agents and cracked down on Kremlin finances in an effort to present a united front as Moscow is accused of meddling in the American election, poisoning a former spy in Britain and targeting European think tanks with hacking attacks."

Hungary Rolls Out Red Carpet for Obscure Russian Bank, Stoking Spy Fears - The New York Times

 

[Chagos]

And people don't think the Russians had any benefit in supporting Brexit. In another world, this would be like the story of the scorpion and the fox but in the UK, the "Brexit fox" is still alive and very much kicking. Heinz Christian Strache on the other hand, isn't so lucky.

Austrian Chancellor has called for a snap election. Let's see how the populace react, hopefully for the better....

Clearly it was a trap, elaborately planned and executed. Audio and Video surveillance installed prior to the meeting, a Russian oligarch's niece, real or fabricated, put in place and the whole thing actually so ludicrous in (Strache's) performance that Hollywood would have trashed any such script.

But that's about as much an excuse for Strache's conduct as a drug dealer complaining about being arrested on account of a police sting operation. The FPÖ tried to scuttle down that road but had to realize that nobody is buying it.

Questions remain about who orchestrated the whole thing, to what gain and why this video didn't surface until now.

After all it was made some time before the last Austrian general elections and if anyone wanted to scuttle the FPÖ, THEN would have been the far more harmful date to drop this clanger.

This affair may or may not have an effect on FPÖ's (and thus rightists') chances in the European elections, but the diehard supporters no doubt will not waver. If fanatical supporters are not deterred by candidates that tell of grabbing women by the you-know-what, this won't deter them either.

And the Russia connection of the FPÖ (not orchestrated but for real) causes as little brow-raising among its supporters as it does for Le Pen or Meuthen (AfD and Co.) and did for Petry. Or all the other rightie scammers that suck up to the Kremlin.

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

Re: Austrian government collapses as far right leader caught in video sting

Third such thread on this topic.

Strache the head of Austria's right-wing populist FPO party, met with a purported russian multi

Austria's Vice Chancellor Quits After Video Surfaces Of Meeting With Russian Investor

Thank you. I've asked a mod to merge mine with either (or both) of them.

 

[Chagos]

Re: Austrian government collapses as far right leader caught in video sting

Meanwhile, after Strache quitting, the minister of the interior (FPÖ) got mouthy at his coalition partner (Kurz's ÖVP) and Kurz fired him.

Whereupon, as threatened, all FPÖ ministers in the coalition government resigned.

Looks like they're going to try a no-confidence vote on Kurz pretty soon, in the hope of denying him the advantage of entering the September snap election with a "Chancellor-Bonus".

 

[Litwin]

Re: Austrian government collapses as far right leader caught in video sting

Meanwhile, after Strache quitting, the minister of the interior (FPÖ) got mouthy at his coalition partner (Kurz's ÖVP) and Kurz fired him.

Whereupon, as threatened, all FPÖ ministers in the coalition government resigned.

Looks like they're going to try a no-confidence vote on Kurz pretty soon, in the hope of denying him the advantage of entering the September snap election with a "Chancellor-Bonus".

From Reuters

Austrian government collapses as far right leader caught in video sting
​

VIENNA (Reuters) - 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.

The far-right Freedom Party’s Heinz-Christian Strache resigned as vice chancellor and party leader after the video was released by two German news organizations. He acknowledged that the video was “catastrophic” but denied breaking the law.

Kurz, a conservative who formed a coalition with the Freedom Party a year and a half ago, said the apparent video sting, in which Strache discusses contracts in return for financial or political favors, was the last straw in the relationship.

COMMENT:-

Possibly not all that earthshaking from an American perspective, but I did find the defence position that runs along the lines of

​

"We were caught before we could actually do anything illegal so that means we are **I*N*N*O*C*E*N*T** and continuing to dwell on the fact that we were seriously talking about doing something illegal is outright persecution."
​

to be as amusing as anyone in the US would find it if any American political figure were to be dumb enough to attempt it.

Don't you?
​

Austria's far-right Freedom Party ministers all resign amid scandal

Austria's far-right Freedom Party ministers all resign amid scandal - BBC News

 

[Infinite Chaos]

Re: Austrian government collapses as far right leader caught in video sting

Austria's far-right Freedom Party ministers all resign amid scandal - BBC News

Shame on Austria if those FPÖ ministers are all re-elected.

 

[Litwin]

Re: Austrian government collapses as far right leader caught in video sting

Shame on Austria if those FPÖ ministers are all re-elected.

i don't think so , Austrians have respect to themselves

 

[Frigidweirdo]

this is how putler´s kleptocracy works, its in Your country for sure , so are you ready to stop it once and forever?

"
Caught in the Trap

Heinz-Christian Strache, the head of Austria's right-wing populist FPÖ party, met with a purported Russian multimillionaire on Ibiza in July 2017. She offered him campaign support in exchange for public contracts. What he didn't know was that the entire exchange was being recorded by hidden cameras.

" https://projekte.sueddeutsche.de/artikel/politik/caught-in-the-trap-e675751/

This is nationalism at its heart.

It's not politics that puts the country's interests at heart, it's politics that simple people can easily understand and easily get behind it, because it's complete nonsense. Literally these politicians are taking eejits for a ride, and the eejits are loving it, until they find out that they've been conned. And they eventually find out, just ask Hitler's fans, Mussolini's fans, Franco's fans and the like.

 

[Chagos]

Re: Austrian government collapses as far right leader caught in video sting

Shame on Austria if those FPÖ ministers are all re-elected.

Well, they obviously won't be ministers for now but the party is hardly going to disappear down a void.

Current polls show them to have lost 4 pct but what the picture will be in September (scheduled election) is anybody's guess. The hardcore of supporters is pretty much like the supporter hardcore of the current US government, like in "right or wrong, my party".

Meanwhile it looks (contrary to my previous report) as though the initiating of the no-confidence vote won't be coming from them, but from those that formed the opposition so far anyway. Namely Social Democrats (SPÖ) and an assortment of smaller parties. The explanation being that Kurz (the chancellor) is no better than those that he fired, simply on account of having gotten into bed with such scum in the first place.

The scummy FPÖ remains currently undecided (or at least states that) on whether they'll support the vote or not, the vote incidentally being scheduled for next Monday.

For them it's basically a matter of "damned if you do and damned if you don't", because supporting no-confidence would have them seen as having closed ranks with the left, their arch enemy. Their hardcore voters might get unforgiving about such a move, OTH there's really no alternative sufficiently far-right and authoritarian for those to turn to.

The left as such is so weak that there's no way they'll ever get a sufficient percentage in September that'll put them in the seat.

The only thing to take away from all this is that, wherever you look in Europe from the Channel to the Alps, putting the far-right populist-nationalist into the driving seat (even as a co-driver) results in shambles for the country. Sleeping with dogs and waking up with fleas and all that.

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

this is how putler´s kleptocracy works, its in Your country for sure , so are you ready to stop it once and forever?

"
Caught in the Trap

Heinz-Christian Strache, the head of Austria's right-wing populist FPÖ party, met with a purported Russian multimillionaire on Ibiza in July 2017. She offered him campaign support in exchange for public contracts. What he didn't know was that the entire exchange was being recorded by hidden cameras.

" https://projekte.sueddeutsche.de/artikel/politik/caught-in-the-trap-e675751/

One should acknowledge that one of the minor differences that this incident has highlighted is that, in Austria, governments can fall when the behaviour of government ministers is "merely unethical" and did not rise to the level of criminality.

This shows the inherent inferiority of the Austrian so-called "Republic" in that governments are not allowed to run for the full term that they were elected for.

In a REALLY democratic society, the people simply have to put up with the mistakes that they made when they voted a government into power REGARDLESS of what the members of that government do. That is known as "the will of the people".

 

[Chagos]

One should acknowledge that one of the minor differences that this incident has highlighted is that, in Austria, governments can fall when the behaviour of government ministers is "merely unethical" and did not rise to the level of criminality.

This shows the inherent inferiority of the Austrian so-called "Republic" in that governments are not allowed to run for the full term that they were elected for.

In a REALLY democratic society, the people simply have to put up with the mistakes that they made when they voted a government into power REGARDLESS of what the members of that government do. That is known as "the will of the people".

You are very much mistaken in practically all of your assessment regarding Austria.

For starters, it takes a a PM or (here) a Chancellor to either remove a minister from his cabinet or induce him to go voluntarily, and then it takes a whole bunch of ministers from the party of the fired to resign in protest.

That causes loss of the parliamentary majority required to govern and necessitates new elections.

As to the supposed superiority of your republic, I vaguely recall that Richard M. wasn't allowed to stay in office for his full term either.

 

[Lord Tammerlain]

You are very much mistaken in practically all of your assessment regarding Austria.

For starters, it takes a a PM or (here) a Chancellor to either remove a minister from his cabinet or induce him to go voluntarily, and then it takes a whole bunch of ministers from the party of the fired to resign in protest.

That causes loss of the parliamentary majority required to govern and necessitates new elections.

As to the supposed superiority of your republic, I vaguely recall that Richard M. wasn't allowed to stay in office for his full term either.

TU is Canadian, and is well aware of the parliamentary system of government. I believe his comment was directed at those in the US that feel that such a system is less democratic than the US republic style


Both systems have advantages and disadvantages.

The US republic style has more checks and balances and is less prone to swings in government style and operations than a Parliamentary system where a majority government is typically elected (UK, Can, Australia). In a parliamentary government in which a minority government is often elected, there are more checks and balances, but the swings in governing style can be higher depending on which alliances are made

 

[Chagos]

TU is Canadian, and is well aware of the parliamentary system of government. I believe his comment was directed at those in the US that feel that such a system is less democratic than the US republic style


Both systems have advantages and disadvantages.

Finally, no case can be made for any people to have to put up with who they elected for their (or his) full term. I already mentioned Nixon.

The US republic style has more checks and balances and is less prone to swings in government style and operations than a Parliamentary system where a majority government is typically elected (UK, Can, Australia). In a parliamentary government in which a minority government is often elected, there are more checks and balances, but the swings in governing style can be higher depending on which alliances are made

I agree that (as an example) the POTUS and whoever he appoints as secretaries can remain in
their respective seats even while holding neither house. Seeing how the US has practically no provisions for a coalition government by the simple expedient of not needing it.

But that, in this case and in this forum, is somewhat besides the point.

The point being (perhaps not explained in sufficient detail by me) that parliamentary republics over here show more examples of an elected government serving its full term, than they show the contrary.

Taking Germany as an example, Merkel comes to mind (will be 16 years in the Chancellor's office), Kohl (WAS 16 years in same office).

What I object to is the comment about "a REALLY democratic society". Neither the US nor Austria is a "democracy", they're republics.

Based on democratic principles, I agree.

And let's just keep the record straight here, Austria's Strache resigned and that was probably one of the only decent things he ever did. Because that reflected exactly the will of the people that found mention here.

It didn't represent the will of Herbert Kickl, minister of the interior, who mouthed off about the ÖVP (and thus the chancellor) being drunk on power.

That got him fired same as the current POTUS fires critics within his own team.

The other ministers from his party resigned in protest, nobody fired THEM.

Finally, no case can be made for the people to have to put up with whoever they elected for their or his full term.

 

[TU Curmudgeon]

You are very much mistaken in practically all of your assessment regarding Austria.

For starters, it takes a a PM or (here) a Chancellor to either remove a minister from his cabinet or induce him to go voluntarily, and then it takes a whole bunch of ministers from the party of the fired to resign in protest.

That causes loss of the parliamentary majority required to govern and necessitates new elections.

As to the supposed superiority of your republic, I vaguely recall that Richard M. wasn't allowed to stay in office for his full term either.

Two minor points here:

1. what you say (about what can cause a government to "fall" in Austria does NOT contradict what I said; and
2. I don't live in a "republic".

 

[Chagos]

Two minor points here:

1. what you say (about what can cause a government to "fall" in Austria does NOT contradict what I said; and
2. I don't live in a "republic".

both points taken.