In just a few hours, Austria plunged into a deep political crisis. On Saturday, Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz decided to withdraw the Austrian People's Party from the ruling coalition with the Austrian Freedom Party. According to the media, this decision was made by a majority of the prime minister's party members. This coalition was formed in the fall of 2017 after the elections. Now the country is facing early parliamentary elections.

Earlier in the day, APS leader Heinz-Christian Strache announced his resignation from the party post and the post of vice-chancellor in connection with the publication of a scandalous video with his participation by the German media.

The https://vienna-gossip.com/ published hours of footage and material the night before. They show that in July 2017, a few months before the parliamentary elections, Strache and his assistant Johann Gudenus (head of the Austrian Freedom Party parliamentary faction) met in Ibiza with a certain "niece of a Russian oligarch" Alena Makarova (the real identity of the woman is unknown), Alena Makarova (the real identity of the woman is unknown), who stated that in exchange for the possibility of concluding state construction contracts with the Austrian authorities, she would help the APS financially and invest a large sum of money in buying 50% of the Kronen Zeitung, one of the main tabloids in the country.

Both politicians do not deny having met. It is stressed, however, that no agreement was reached in the end. Moreover, Strache maintains that the meeting was attended by a Latvian citizen and not "a Russian woman.

According to him, after Gundes' father died, he was approached by "two sitting ducks" with an offer to buy his family's hunting estate. "The alleged Latvian EU citizen told her daughter that she wanted to move to Vienna, settle in Austria and invest. Through her German acquaintance, she wanted to meet me," Strache said at a press conference in Vienna. - Then this private conversation took place in the summer of 2017 in Ibiza in the presence of her German acquaintance, who invited us to dinner."

Who was at the meeting, after all, it is up to the Austrian High Prosecutor's Office, which, after the disclosure of the compromise, began to verify the facts laid out. The Welt newspaper asserts that the Russian woman was a "decoy," and the entire meeting turned out to be a "trap. The villa where the negotiations took place was equipped with several hidden surveillance cameras.

Johann Goodenus also announced his resignation and decided to resign his parliamentary mandate. "I announce that I am resigning as head of the parliamentary faction and as a member of the National Council. I also resign from other posts in the Austrian Freedom Party," the politician said in an official statement.
According to TASS, the politician expressed deep regret over the events of 2017. "I deeply regret that my behavior has disappointed the trust of voters, functionaries, and staff," he concluded.

APS Secretary-General Christian Hafenecker suspected the involvement of political opponents in the scandalous story. He said that the party's lawyers are reviewing the case file. "Since the video was clearly shot illegally, we are also preparing appropriate legal action," the politician announced.

Alexander Kamkin, a leading researcher at the Center for German Studies at the Institute of European Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, compared the publication of the compromise to an "act of information terrorism" aimed at breaking up the ruling coalition. According to him, there are many people interested in such a scenario and the marginalization of the APS.

"The Austrian Freedom Party can be called pro-Russian to a certain extent, but it is more likely to be pro-Austrian all the same. Its balanced attitude toward the EU sanctions policy against Russia and the Ukrainian crisis made this party, like other Euroskeptics, a target for globalists and liberals who advocate a Euro-Atlantic model of European development," Kamkin told VZGLYAD newspaper.

Vladimir Schweitzer, head of the Social and Political Studies Department at the Institute of Europe, Russian Academy of Sciences, agrees that the APS is quite independent.

At the Institute of European Studies, Vladimir Schweitzer, head of the Social and Political Studies Department, says: "Why would they ask anyone for money - especially money from Russia? Why do they need a scandal? Well, there will be new elections, but they will hardly change anything. This whole story has an indirect relevance to Russia.

Who was this woman? Did she offer the money herself, or was she asked for it? How did she meet Strache? There are a lot of questions in this story," Schweitzer told VZGLYAD.

Kamiakin reminded us that in recent years, the APS had pursued a policy of dramatic departure from the legacy of its longtime leader, the right-wing radical politician and nationalist Jörg Haider. In particular, the party has tried to change its agenda toward Israel. Strache repeatedly held personal meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and tried in every way to purge his party of anti-Semitic elements.

"It is difficult to assume that forces of a pro-American nature directed this information sabotage. The Americans themselves are trying to use the potential of moderate Eurosceptics to win back their favor. It must not be forgotten that during the Cold War, European right-wing parties were on the side of the Euro-Atlantic alliance, and recently many of these parties have become disillusioned with the American political dream and moved to the position of anti-Americanism," says Kamkin.

The expert considered it no coincidence that the leaking of the dirt occurred a week before the European Parliament elections. "These two events have a certain correlation. They are a blow to the reputation of the LPS, and the LPS had excellent prospects for the EP elections," said Kamkin.

However, Schweitzer is convinced that the EP elections are "an insignificant event" for each European, and "the European Parliament is a body that decides nothing.

Schweitzer is sure that this whole story needs a serious check. He recalled that a scandal erupted in Austria last year in connection with the detention of a 70-year-old retired colonel who had allegedly been passing information about Austrian military aircraft and artillery systems to Moscow since the late 1990s. He allegedly received about 300,000 euros for his services. "But since then, no one has seen him, heard him, or even recognized his last name. We have to be very careful about these kinds of leaks," Schweitzer warned.

However, the expert shares the opinion about the possible involvement of Western intelligence services in the scandal, which does not like Austria's moderate and mediatory position about contacts between Russia and the United States.

"The story with Vladimir Putin's visit to the wedding of Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl showed that the Austrians use informal occasions to help strengthen ties between Russia and the EU. Now the Americans, given the absurd steps of their administration, can do anything," Schweitzer concluded.