U-committee report

ÖVP quite sure: “System Kickl” has been unmasked

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/APA)

On Friday, the ÖVP was the last of the parliamentary groups to present its final reports on the recently concluded U-committees. The People's Party mainly lashed out at the Freedom Party. The "Kickl system" has been unmasked.

"Blue abuse of power" had been clearly proven, ÖVP parliamentary group leader Andreas Hanger told journalists on Friday. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to investigate the red abuse of power.

Flow of money to right-wing extremist media
The blue party had "failed" in government responsibility, said Hanger: "It has proven that several times." There is an "incredibly broad field of incompetence and scandals". Including media policy, for example. The FPÖ had "unabashedly" supplied right-wing extremist media with advertisements while in government.

They had also tried to intervene in reporting with advertising money. The result is that "almost the entire FPÖ government team" is now under investigation. In this context, Hanger calls on the public prosecutor's office to "come to a result quickly".

Trials take too long for ÖVP
The same applies to the Styrian financial scandal involving the Freedom Party, where the investigations have also taken too long for Hanger's liking. After all, the facts are "clearly on the table": "This is the biggest party finance scandal of the Second Republic".

This is blue posturing at its best.

Andreas Hanger

Bild: APA/EVA MANHART

Hanger sees further evidence of blue abuse of power in the personnel policy in the Ministry of the Interior under FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl. This was "pure blue posturing". "FPÖ favorites" had been appointed to central positions contrary to the assessment of the personnel commission. This was done with "brute force".

Criticism of blue Russia connections
Hanger is once again "concerned" about the Freedom Party's links to Russia. The agreement with Putin's United Russia party had taken on new significance with the war of aggression against Ukraine. The FPÖ had "clearly" tried to fill it with life. For example, intensive administrative cooperation had been planned, as can be seen from various chats, argued Hanger.

Kickl had also opened the floodgates for spying on Russia. After the dismantling of the BVT, the former constitution protection officer Egisto Ott, who was suspected of espionage, was supposed to play a central role in the reorganization. There had also been a series of pro-Russia motions by the FPÖ in parliament.

Kickl's "think tank"
According to Hanger, particular attention should also be paid to the "Ideenschmiede case", in which Kickl was involved in an advertising agency via a trust agreement and apparently benefited from the profit distributions, but tried to conceal this, said Hanger: "These are things that urgently need to be clarified politically."

The second sub-committee on COFAG was not given as much space in Hanger's presentation. COFAG had been an "important instrument" for maneuvering Austria through the crisis. It had been shown that there had been no preferential treatment, but that payments had been made "exclusively on the basis of guidelines", according to Hanger. Of course, one could always discuss individual instruments in retrospect or whether there had been over-funding in individual areas.