#ibiza-gate

The political future of Austria’s high-flying chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, is in question after it emerged that he is being investigated for lying to a parliamentary committee during the “Ibizagate” affair.

In a 58-page criminal investigation cited by Austrian media, the country’s anti-corruption prosecutor alleges Kurz deliberately misled MPs trying to shed light on the entanglement of political and commercial interests highlighted in the 2019 affair involving his former far-right coalition partners.

Kurz, 34, said in the questioning that he was only marginally aware of the process by which his personal ally and party loyalist Thomas Schmid was appointed as director of ÖBAG, the state holding company that controls €28bn (£24bn) in strategic investments on behalf of the government.

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Austria’s constitutional court has urged Finance Minister Gernot Blümel to deliver crucial documents to the investigation committee set up in the wake of the “Ibiza-gate” scandal and tasked with investigating political corruption in the former Austrian government.

The court has called on President Alexander Van der Bellen to execute its order and demanded Blümel to hand over the requested documents as soon as possible.

Leading figures from the Green party, which is in coalition with the ÖVP, including Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler and Justice Minister Alma Zadic, have been critical of Blümel’s inaction, with former green leader Van der Bellen calling the scandal “unprecedented.”

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The “Ibiza-gate” scandal was when the leaders of the fascist FPÖ got caught trying to buy Russian influence with Austrian government contracts in Ibiza. Heinz-Christian Strache, then Austrian vice-chancellor, also boasted about his meetings with Putin. It was caught on video and caused the collapse of the coalition government in Austria.