“Neue Zrcher Zeitung” (Zurich) and “Handelsblatt” (Dsseldorf): “Old Bel instead of New Style”
“However, other standards apply to politics than just those of criminal law. Therefore, it is currently very uncertain whether Kurz will survive this scandal politically Comparison of negligible offense. It is difficult to imagine that the party will continue to support the government if its boss should be charged with corruption, especially since the Greens have achieved little in this now well over one and a half year partnership Austria is facing turbulent weeks that could well lead to the end of Kurz’s once so spectacular political career. It seems impossible for his own party to drop him for the time being, but under his leadership it breaks for the third time in four years Government apart, he will have a hard time following to find alliance partners again in the event of new elections. Kurz broke too many dishes with his policy in the well-known style. “
“Tagesspiegel” (Berlin): “Spuk”
“The favorite chancellor of some young German politicians and tabloids is again under suspicion. After possible lies in investigative committees and post haggling, even more serious allegations are now being raised against the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and his VP: Among other things, surveys that Kurz in the fight for the Chancellery are on the rise If these accusations are correct, this would be a manipulation of public opinion and the next proof of Kurz’s twisted understanding of democracy , the coalition partner, this is a serious problem, because even after the last scandals it was difficult to explain “business as usual.” Actually, they should end the coalition – in which they were able to push through a surprising number of green ideas, because the VP has the green Relatively free hand in their areas of environmental protection, a CO2 Pr Ice cream and a climate ticket are among the achievements. But the Greens are also committed to fighting corruption. Therefore they would have to put an end to the ghost. “
“Dolomites” (Bozen): “After a quake in the Chancellery, the republic trembles”
“One thing is certain: The youngest Federal Chancellor and VP of the Second Republic has never been so under pressure. He and his closest advisers, the so-called ‘Kurz-Truppe’, are accused of meticulously preparing the party’s takeover as Foreign Minister in 2016 To have a confidante in the Ministry of Finance organized the placement of falsified surveys in the tabloid medium ‘Austria’ and financed it with bogus bills – that’s how Kurz should be pushed and party leader Reinhold Mitterlehner ‘written down’. As they say in Austria, the presumption of innocence applies.
One thing is also certain: Even if there is no evidence of an order from Kurz, he has another investigation as a suspect on his neck (they have been running for a long time because of false statements in the parliamentary U-Committee). He threatens to lose the second government of his young career (after the collapse of the VP-FP coalition; the previous SP-VP coalition, after all, when Kurz came to power burst). But above all: The ‘new style’ with which Sebastian Kurz started in 2017 to turn the party and Austrian domestic politics inside out, the completely different way of making politics is a thing of the past – even the most benevolent media comment: Nobody takes Sebastian Kurz for that anymore. “
“taz” (Berlin): “Kurz clings to power”
“Apart from the Federal President and their own party leaders, nobody can force Kurz to give up as long as the coalition holds. It is not at all unlikely that he would emerge victorious again in new elections. But he risks a division of society In the United States, where a large number of conservatives have remained loyal to Donald Trump, Sebastian Kurz’s fan base in Austria cannot be dissuaded from their belief by facts would withdraw to the final clarification of the allegations. But Sebastian Kurz does not tick that way. “
“Sddeutsche Zeitung” (Mnchen): “Corruption Habits”
“However, it is not about one person alone and their presumed wrongdoing. The discussion is a political system that is rotten through and through. Abuse of power, illegal party financing, the entanglement of media and politics, the state as a self-service shop: none of these abuses are not only known since Ibiza. Far too little has been done about it. With the result that Austria’s corruption swamp now extends into the Chancellery. A fresh start is urgently required, a clean cut. “
“Il Manifesto” (Rome): “The ra Kurz seems to be at the beginning of the end”
“Kurz is one step before the end. The political earthquake in Austria continues. How long will Kurz remain Chancellor? In Vienna, the search for a solution that can save the country new elections has already begun. The ra Kurz seems at the beginning to be of the end “.
“Sole 24 Ore” (Mailand):
“He defends himself briefly, but his alliance with the Greens is shaky. The shadow of a government crisis in Austria is getting longer. The Chancellor is not giving up and can count on the support of his VP ministers.”
“Hospodarske noviny” (Prague):
“Sebastian Kurz is still the youngest among the heads of state and government at EU summits, but the raids in the Chancellery and in the VP headquarters have shaken his steep career to the very foundations. Two aspects are the worst of the whole affair: On the one hand, the impression is reinforced that politicians in the Alpine republic can buy well-meaning reporting with public money, and on the other hand, the brief affair undermines not only trust in politics but also in the media, whose job it should actually be Control politicians. “
Nrnberger Nachrichten “(Nürnberg):” Danger of collapse in the ‘House of Kurz’ “
“For Austria’s Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (VP), after raids in his official seat, in the VP headquarters and with closest confidants, things are getting tight and tight. The green coalition partner already has the rope in hand, but is still reluctant to pull it. ( …) The deputy head of the Green Party parliamentary group in the National Council, Olga Voglauer, was even clearer: ‘I can’t imagine another coalition with a Chancellor Kurz.’ In plain language: If necessary, the VP has to send their superstar to the desert. It doesn’t look like that at the moment – but the ‘House of Kurz’ is shaking like never before. “
