"Strache's handbag"

Emotions boil over: shreds fly in the ORF studio

The debate between Harald Vilimsky and Andreas Schieder was particularly heated.

(Bild: APA/Helmuth Fohringer)

In the first round of discussions between the top EU candidates after the first trend survey, verbal sparks flew in the ORF studio. Andreas Schieder (SPÖ) in particular took aim at Harald Vilimsky (FPÖ). The affair surrounding the handbag of Philippa Strache, Heinz-Christian Strache's ex-wife, was also unpacked again.

The panel discussion even left ORF editors Tobias Pötzelsberger and Peter Unger shaking their heads. "Some people in this studio will not be entirely unhappy that this discussion is over. What we have just seen leaves us a little speechless. The election campaign doesn't seem to be completely over yet," says Pötzelsberger.

FPÖ funds in the sights
What had happened? The tone throughout the entire discussion was extremely rough. The focus was on FPÖ top candidate Harald Vilimsky, who was confronted with harsh accusations by his opponents. For his part, Vilimsky countered with some strong remarks. Emotions ran high.

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"Sports bags with money ..."
"We know that FPÖ party leader Herbert Kickl - in addition to all his parliamentary salaries - has paid himself a lot of money. We know all the cases surrounding the Strache affair, in which Vilimsky was also involved. Sports bags with money, the handbag for the wife via the party coffers: all things that I do not want for Austria and that threatens us - also in terms of content - with the FPÖ that things are going downhill", rumbled Andreas Schieder (SPÖ) in the direction of Vilimsky. 

As a reminder: Heinz-Christian Strache is suspected of having financed his private life on a large scale with party funds during his FPÖ party presidency (2006 to the end of May 2019).

I can only warn against handing the country over to the FPÖ. I can only warn against bringing the FPÖ into government. The ÖVP has tried it twice in recent history - and each time it ended in a mega-scandal.

SPÖ-Spitzenkandidat Andreas Schieder

"Bribes from desert states ..."
 Vilimsky countered Schieder's statements with his own accusations against the SPÖ: "You will find hundreds of thousands of euros in cash and bribes from desert states in the ranks of the SPÖ. Stop accusing us of corruption where there is none." Vilimsky also criticized the SPÖ for opening doors for radical Islamists in Vienna. During the election campaign, the FPÖ politician referred to Schieder as the "top Islamist representative".

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"Babler and Nehammer will have other jobs"
 Vilimsky also poured oil on the fire in the direction of the two party leaders Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) and Andreas Babler (SPÖ). In his opinion, both will have other jobs after the National Council elections in the fall and will no longer have a say in the future government.

Lopatka to Vilimsky: "You can draw up wanted lists"
 ÖVP top candidate Reinhold Lopatka reacted angrily to this: "We must not interfere at all in what the FPÖ does. But Vilimsky wants to tell us and the SPÖ what to do, we're not that far along yet." He added: "Mr. Vilimsky, you can draw up wanted lists, but you can't decide who goes into the National Council elections for the ÖVP and SPÖ. And hopefully never." Vilimsky's response: "Keep it up, Mr. Lopatka, and you'll soon be out of parliament."

"You can look the other way like a schoolboy ..."
NEOS top candidate Harald Brandstätter also had nothing good to say about Vilimsky. "You accuse me of being close to Putin, you accuse me of being a warmonger, you can look the other way like a schoolboy. The fact is that you have squandered the 15 percent you were given in all the polls. The five percent drop is the result of Brandstätter's completely exaggerated rhetoric." Brandstätter demonstratively looked away during Vilimsky's comments.

Brandstätter said to Vilimsky: "The nice thing is that everyone who told me that Vilimsky is so terrible is now saying that I shouldn't worry because he's never in Brussels anyway. That's the beauty of this evening." 

Schieder with criticism of trend survey
Right at the beginning of the discussion, Schieder complained about the publication of the trend survey at 5 pm. "It is difficult to hold a discussion on the basis of a survey. I'm not used to that. Normally you talk on the basis of reliable figures. Democracy means that every vote counts and not that three pollsters come up with something. You should also have this respect for democracy."