The Schilling case

Wild accusations against Lena Schilling

On Wednesday at 8.30 a.m., Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler made the wall: he defended Lena Schilling.

(Bild: SEPA.Media | Martin Juen)

Four weeks before the EU elections, a mud fight breaks out over Lena Schilling (see video above). The Greens' crisis communication went wrong, analyzed political scientist Kathrin Stainer-Hämmerle.

An election campaign about character issues - this is strikingly reminiscent of 2017, when SPÖ Chancellor Christian Kern was discredited in internal emails as politically inexperienced, erratic, vain and a "princess with a glass chin". It cost Kern percentage points on election night.

Seven years later, the Green Party's top EU candidate Lena Schilling is facing a barrage of wild accusations. Rumors have been circulating for several weeks about a sensitive private matter, according to which Schilling had told a former friend that she had been beaten by her husband during her pregnancy and had suffered a miscarriage as a result. The conflict escalated to such an extent that Schilling signed a cease-and-desist declaration.

From left: Lena Schilling and Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler

(Bild: SEPA.Media | Martin Juen)

This information was published by "Der Standard". The "Standard" spoke to 50 people from Schilling's circle and researched further abnormalities of character. Schilling is said to have caused a great deal of suffering with false rumors, which she is also said to have spread via journalists.

Personality is always at the forefront with politicians.

Politikwissenschaftlerin Kathrin Stainer-Hämmerle

Crisis communication not a success
A few hours after the publication, the Greens try to weather the storm in a press conference called at short notice. Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler, club leader Sigrid Maurer and Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler form a wagon train around Schilling. "However, the crisis communication was not successful," summarizes political scientist Kathrin Stainer-Hämmerle. Above all, Kogler's comment that the accusations were just "huffing and puffing" is a complete misjudgement for Stainer-Hämmerle.

"The Greens should take the matter more seriously. More explanation is needed to demonstrate credibility. These explanations were missing at the press conference."

Schilling's argument that she is "honest as a politician, but what she does in her private life is nobody's business" is also wrong. "Personality is always at the forefront for politicians," said Stainer-Hämmerle. For the Greens, the development is "bitter", because Schilling was "a stroke of luck for the Greens" as the EU's top candidate with a new style, says Stainer-Hämmerle. The question now is how resilient Schilling will be in the coming days.

More explanation is needed to demonstrate credibility.

Politikwissenschaftlerin Kathrin Stainer-Hämmerle

Lawyer: Schilling was just "worried"
But why did the allegations of violence escalate? The "Krone" asked lawyer Maria Windhager about this back in April. "A young woman was worried about another young woman and discussed it with someone close to her. That's all it was. The settlement was only reached to establish that Lena Schilling never had an interest in discussing highly personal matters in public."