After dubbed the Ibiza case (Ibiza Maklerin), the crisis arose, a video recorded with a hidden camera on the Spanish island two years ago. It shows the already former vice-chancellor, the far-right Heinz-Christian Strache, offering contracts to a supposed niece of a Russian oligarch in exchange for money for his campaign.

With certainty, it is not known who set the trap, which was carefully prepared with dozens of cameras and microphones distributed throughout the Ibizan mansion. 

The video was published by the German newspapers Süddeutsche Zeitung and Der Spiegel, which obtained it from an anonymous source.

What happens in the Ibiza Gate video?

During the six hours of conversation with the false niece of a Russian oligarch, Strache - who had not yet won the elections in 2017 - says he is willing to intervene in the Austrian media "like Viktor Orbán" (the Hungarian prime minister).

He proposes the fake Russian tycoon invest in the tabloid "Kronen Zeitung" to be favorable to his party before the elections and suggests that they also invest in the public channel ORF in exchange for commissions.

The fact is, the FPÖ has put one of its top officials on the ORF board anyway. 

Joining Strache appears Johann Gudenus, who worked as a "translator" because he took classes at the University of Moscow.

At another time, Strache says that the country should be oriented towards the East (towards Russia and its countries) because there is a "decline in the West."

The video would reveal an illegal financing system of its formation, the Freedom Party, better known by its acronym FPÖ, commenting that the richest in Austria financed the parties through an NGO without going through audits.

"There are a couple of wealthy people, who pay between 500,000 and 1.5 to 2 million," Strache said. At another point, he says that the money had not yet been transferred but that it had been promised. And for these large sums, a non-profit association has nothing to do with the party. "For this reason, he is not required to report to the Court of Auditors," says Strache, spreading his arms and shrugging his shoulders. Gudenus added in Russian that no one knew of the association's existence. Strache said three attorneys ran it.

The videos look like a workshop recorded in a banana republic, "comment the editors of Der Spiegel.

Strache has defended himself, saying that he had drunk alcohol and wanted to impress that beautiful blonde woman.

It is not known why the video was leaked to the press shortly before the European Elections. However, the famous German comedian Jan Böhmermann, who had a serious run-in with Turkish President Erdogan, said he had known this video for weeks. In April, during a ceremony in Austria, he made jokes about "Ibiza and the mansion of the Russian oligarchs."

Now he has just published a mysterious tweet with a link to a countdown that ends this Wednesday. However, since then, his tweets are protected and are not visible to the public. 

Government coalition explosion

Strache has apologized and has resigned from his position as vice-chancellor and the leader of the far-right Liberal Party.

He will be replaced by Norbert Hofer, current Minister of Transport. In a video posted on social media, Hofer said what happened is unforgivable but reminded Austrians why the far-right should remain in power:

"This has been a government that has already achieved a lot in this country, a government that made it clear after 2015 that our country suffered from uncontrolled immigration and that this could not happen again," he said.

Austrian Chancellor and Conservative leader Sebastian Kurz are also in trouble. After all, it was he who formed the coalition government with the Freedom Party in 2017. This Saturday, he called early elections.

The ministers of the FPÖ resigned late Monday block after openly Kurz said it would have been better to resign Interior Minister ** Herbert Kickl **.

Prime Minister Kurz had told the newspaper "Kurier" that Kickl could not be in charge of the investigation into the scandal and then had very harsh words against his minister during a press conference.

He accused the FPÖ of having a wrong concept of politics and of "having destroyed the cooperation with the Government" and criticized his Minister of the Interior Herbert Kickl for having appointed a next collaborator as General Director of Public Security, who would remain in the position even if the minister resigns. "This shows that they have no conscience in how to handle this scandal," he said.

Then Kurz defended his government's management and has asked the opposition to be "responsible" to maintain political stability. He has also said that he will work alongside the president to bring the country back to normal as soon as possible.