05-23-2019, 07:07 AM
This is juicy. The ruling right-wing Party in Austria has lost much credibility due to a scandal.
The Ibiza affair (German: Ibiza-Affäre) is an ongoing political scandal in Austria involving Heinz-Christian Strache, the former Vice-Chancellor of Austria and leader of the Freedom Party (FPÖ); Johann Gudenus, a deputy leader of the Freedom Party; and both the Austrian Freedom Party and Austria's political landscape in general.
The scandal was triggered on 17 May 2019 by the publication of a secretly recorded video of a meeting in Ibiza, Spain, in July 2017, which appears to show the then opposition politicians Strache and Gudenus discussing their party's underhanded practices and intentions.[1][2][3] In the video, both politicians appeared receptive to proposals by a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch, discussing providing the FPÖ with positive news coverage in return for government contracts. Strache and Gudenus also hinted at corrupt political practices involving numerous other wealthy donors to the FPÖ in Europe and elsewhere.
The scandal caused the collapse of the Austrian governing coalition on 18 May 2019 and the announcement of an early election.[4][5][6]
On 17 May 2019, Der Spiegel and the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that in 2017, Strache and Freedom Party member Johann Gudenus had been offered electoral support by a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch named Igor Makarov.[7] The source of the allegations was a video secretly recorded at a rented villa on Ibiza in July 2017, which apparently shows Strache agreeing to offer the woman assistance in acquiring business contracts in Austria in exchange for rendering support in the upcoming election in Austria (October 2017).[3] Five people took part in the videotaped meeting, according to the German news outlets, which had examined parts of the tape but had not released the full recordings available to them. Those persons included Heinz-Christian Strache; a woman who said she was the niece of a Russian oligarch; an interpreter (who came with her); another Freedom Party official, Johann Gudenus, who appears to have set up the meeting; and Gudenus's wife, Tajana[3] (née Tajčić).[8] The persons spoke in English, German, and Russian.[9]
In the footage, according to Der Spiegel, Strache told the putative investor that he had visited Russia on many occasions and that he had had meetings with advisers of Russia's president Vladimir Putin with a view to forging a "strategic collaboration".[3] He agreed to the woman's suggestion that she might help his party in the 2017 election by buying the mass-circulation tabloid, the Kronen Zeitung; Strache further suggested that she donate funds through their party associations that would be difficult to audit.[3][9]
During the conversation in the footage, Strache said he had contacts with Israelis who opposed left-wing politics in Israel, and that he had been invited to China to promote business between Austria and China. Strache appears to have said that the companies Glock Ges.m.b.H. and Novomatic, and investors Heidi Horten and René Benko, had made large donations to both the FPÖ and the ÖVP using nonprofit associations, an allegation that all have denied.
Strache also said that Hans Peter Haselsteiner, a major shareholder of the construction company Strabag, would no longer receive commissions by government.[9]
In the video, Strache is recorded to have said he wanted to "build a media landscape like Orbán".[10]
The highly professional setup of the apparent trap, the amount of time and money expended on preparing and realising it, made Germany's Die Welt wonder who might have been behind this operation meant to create what the newspaper referred to as Kompromat (incriminating material to be used at the right moment to undermine one's enemy), which had been held back for two years and made public days before the European Parliament election to be held in May 2019.[14]
Austria's newspaper of record, Wiener Zeitung, linked Germany's political activist group, Zentrum für Politische Schönheit, to the creation of the video, in view of its prior activity as well as the suspicious behaviour on Twitter, the group being the first to follow a new account that was the first to tweet about the initial publication of the video′s content.[15]
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz pointed out the similarities to methods used by Israeli election adviser Tal Silberstein [de][16] who had been detained for questioning on money-laundering charges in Israel prior to the 2017 Austrian election.[17] Silberstein was accused in Austria of having used methods of negative campaigning in support of the SPÖ in the 2017 election.[18]
German newspaper BILD speculated that Austrian lawyer Ramin Mirfakhrai, who was born in Tehran, and a Austrian detective living in Munich are behind this operation.[19]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibiza_affair
The Ibiza affair (German: Ibiza-Affäre) is an ongoing political scandal in Austria involving Heinz-Christian Strache, the former Vice-Chancellor of Austria and leader of the Freedom Party (FPÖ); Johann Gudenus, a deputy leader of the Freedom Party; and both the Austrian Freedom Party and Austria's political landscape in general.
The scandal was triggered on 17 May 2019 by the publication of a secretly recorded video of a meeting in Ibiza, Spain, in July 2017, which appears to show the then opposition politicians Strache and Gudenus discussing their party's underhanded practices and intentions.[1][2][3] In the video, both politicians appeared receptive to proposals by a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch, discussing providing the FPÖ with positive news coverage in return for government contracts. Strache and Gudenus also hinted at corrupt political practices involving numerous other wealthy donors to the FPÖ in Europe and elsewhere.
The scandal caused the collapse of the Austrian governing coalition on 18 May 2019 and the announcement of an early election.[4][5][6]
On 17 May 2019, Der Spiegel and the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that in 2017, Strache and Freedom Party member Johann Gudenus had been offered electoral support by a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch named Igor Makarov.[7] The source of the allegations was a video secretly recorded at a rented villa on Ibiza in July 2017, which apparently shows Strache agreeing to offer the woman assistance in acquiring business contracts in Austria in exchange for rendering support in the upcoming election in Austria (October 2017).[3] Five people took part in the videotaped meeting, according to the German news outlets, which had examined parts of the tape but had not released the full recordings available to them. Those persons included Heinz-Christian Strache; a woman who said she was the niece of a Russian oligarch; an interpreter (who came with her); another Freedom Party official, Johann Gudenus, who appears to have set up the meeting; and Gudenus's wife, Tajana[3] (née Tajčić).[8] The persons spoke in English, German, and Russian.[9]
In the footage, according to Der Spiegel, Strache told the putative investor that he had visited Russia on many occasions and that he had had meetings with advisers of Russia's president Vladimir Putin with a view to forging a "strategic collaboration".[3] He agreed to the woman's suggestion that she might help his party in the 2017 election by buying the mass-circulation tabloid, the Kronen Zeitung; Strache further suggested that she donate funds through their party associations that would be difficult to audit.[3][9]
During the conversation in the footage, Strache said he had contacts with Israelis who opposed left-wing politics in Israel, and that he had been invited to China to promote business between Austria and China. Strache appears to have said that the companies Glock Ges.m.b.H. and Novomatic, and investors Heidi Horten and René Benko, had made large donations to both the FPÖ and the ÖVP using nonprofit associations, an allegation that all have denied.
Strache also said that Hans Peter Haselsteiner, a major shareholder of the construction company Strabag, would no longer receive commissions by government.[9]
In the video, Strache is recorded to have said he wanted to "build a media landscape like Orbán".[10]
The highly professional setup of the apparent trap, the amount of time and money expended on preparing and realising it, made Germany's Die Welt wonder who might have been behind this operation meant to create what the newspaper referred to as Kompromat (incriminating material to be used at the right moment to undermine one's enemy), which had been held back for two years and made public days before the European Parliament election to be held in May 2019.[14]
Austria's newspaper of record, Wiener Zeitung, linked Germany's political activist group, Zentrum für Politische Schönheit, to the creation of the video, in view of its prior activity as well as the suspicious behaviour on Twitter, the group being the first to follow a new account that was the first to tweet about the initial publication of the video′s content.[15]
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz pointed out the similarities to methods used by Israeli election adviser Tal Silberstein [de][16] who had been detained for questioning on money-laundering charges in Israel prior to the 2017 Austrian election.[17] Silberstein was accused in Austria of having used methods of negative campaigning in support of the SPÖ in the 2017 election.[18]
German newspaper BILD speculated that Austrian lawyer Ramin Mirfakhrai, who was born in Tehran, and a Austrian detective living in Munich are behind this operation.[19]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibiza_affair
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.