"Have finished"

“Pressure from Jaqueline”? Now the dispute is escalating

Like a forest fire, the dispute seems to be spreading beyond the boundaries of the family and has now led to a break with a long-time companion.

(Bild: picturedesk.com/Andreas Tischler)

Heribert Kasper, a long-time friend of the family and self-proclaimed mediator, reportedly tried to smooth things over between the Lugners - Leo wanted no part of it and lashed out publicly. How the supposed misunderstanding now led to a rift - and who is supposed to be pulling the strings ... 

"To blame it all on me now, to make me look bad in public, is really disappointing and stupid!" Heribert Kasper now speaks out again with this devastating verdict. "Mr. Ferrari" is bitterly disappointed by this development.

As reported by the "Krone" newspaper, Heribert Kasper claims to have had a conciliatory telephone conversation with Jaqueline's husband, Leo Lugner, regarding a discussion with widow Simone. In retrospect, however, the FPÖ politician claimed not to have known anything about it and accused Kasper of making a name for himself in the media at the expense of others. 

Is Jaqueline involved? 
As he says, he only wanted to restore family peace and is now being unjustly publicly criticized for his efforts: "I've never lied to anyone in my entire life! I am still one of those people who are unfortunately dying out, as a great advocate of values! That's more important to me than any fame [...] The fact that Leo is now portraying me as a 'twister and liar', just because of pressure from Jaqueline, is unacceptable and very disappointing! He made the mistake because he probably didn't discuss it with her! Why didn't he ask me not to talk to Simone? At the latest when he saw that I had told her, he could have reacted!"

And indeed, as screenshots (available to Krone) of the WhatsApp chat between the two squabblers show, Kasper did inform Leo Lugner that he had also brought Simone into the mediation process. However, Jaqueline's husband later claimed not to have meant it that way. According to him, if - and this too is now presumably off the table - further talks could only have taken place with sports car fan Kasper. 

"It's closed for me!"
Whether it was a misunderstanding or whether people are being deliberately played off against each other is ultimately impossible to say for sure. We can only speculate as to who is really behind the chaos - but one thing is clear: this peace offering backfired!

"As far as I'm concerned, it's over", Kasper announces at the end, the disputes spread like a forest fire, sweeping non-family members along with them and now actually leading to a break with a long-time companion ...