"Deep state"
Corruption investigations: How the FPÖ is reacting
As was announced on Monday, the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office (WKStA) has been investigating senior FPÖ politicians, including party leader Herbert Kickl, on suspicion of advertising corruption since mid-April. In an initial reaction, the FPÖ now saw the workings of the "deep state" of the ÖVP within the judiciary and specifically accused the management of the Vienna Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.
In general, advertising contracts were only awarded to the media for objective reasons, the party said in a statement.
FPÖ believes the investigation will be closed
"The FPÖ is relaxed about this investigation and is one hundred percent convinced that it will be closed," it said. The sole aim is to damage the FPÖ.
Because the FPÖ cannot be politically opposed, all the dams are now breaking and every means is being used to drag the FPÖ into the mud. In this case, the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office, which has been infiltrated by the ÖVP, is doing this dirty business.
FPÖ in einer Stellungnahme
FPÖ: "No irregularities"
A look at the advertisements placed by the FPÖ-led ministries also shows that there were no irregularities in the volume of advertisements placed by the individual ministries.
"In general, advertising contracts were awarded to the media exclusively for objective reasons, which were primarily based on the topics (in the Federal Ministry of the Interior, for example, mainly the recruitment of new police officers) and the price-performance ratio of the respective offers," emphasized the FPÖ.
Investigations also against Fellner
The WKStA has been investigating the former FPÖ leader and Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache and the former blue ministers Herbert Kickl, Norbert Hofer, Mario Kunasek and Beate Hartinger-Klein on suspicion of advertising corruption since mid-April. Wolfgang Fellner, then managing director of the Austrian media group, is also listed as a suspect.
It was only at the beginning of April that chats were made public showing how Strache intervened with Fellner several times in 2019. For example, he complained to Fellner's media about appearances by former FPÖ politician Ewald Stadler, whom he accused of hating the FPÖ, and threatened to stop advertising.
The WKStA apparently did not want to initiate an investigation on the basis of this, as the chats were too vague and the advertising expenditure at "oe24" and Co. had not been significantly increased. However, the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office (OStA) stated that an investigation should be initiated "immediately" in order to prevent the case from becoming time-barred. Investigations are being conducted into bribery, corruption and breach of trust.
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