Austria's Government Under New Challenge: Are New Elections Coming?

PeopleOther ♦ Published: October 20, 2022; 18:09 ♦ (Vindobona)

With his statements, Thomas Schmid, ex-Secretary General at the Ministry of Finance, has incriminated many former and current top politicians of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), some of them heavily. Although much was already relatively well known in the investigations by the Public Prosecutor's Office for Economic Affairs and Corruption (WKSta) triggered by the Ibiza affair, Schmid has provided a great deal of new material in the cases surrounding appointments to posts, tax and advertising deals in the Austrian government. In Austrian politics, a new crisis is now brewing for the ÖVP-Green coalition government.

As far as criminal law is concerned, several questions remain unanswered; as far as politics is concerned, the ÖVP-Green coalition is facing a crisis. / Picture: © Bundeskanzleramt (BKA) / Christoper Dunker

Whether Schmid's statements are true must be clarified. The former head of the state holding company ÖBAG wants leniency, as Vindobona.org reported, which is why he must also be interested in telling everything. Whether he…