Sensitive data leaked

Blue Vilimsky vs. ORF: Posting causes a stir

Harald Vilimsky is causing a stir because he shared an email on X from an ORF journalist who described the FPÖ as "far right".

(Bild: APA/HANS KLAUS TECHT)

The blue politician Harald Vilimsky has caused a new stir with a posting on X. In the e-mail shared by the FPÖ delegation leader in the EU Parliament, the name and telephone number of an ORF employee, 0who described the Freedom Party as "far right", were clearly recognizable.

Leading members of the EU Parliament's Patriots Group - including Vilimsky - pointed out the threat to freedom of expression and the danger of censorship in Europe at a press conference in Strasbourg on Tuesday.

Vilimsky defends posting
An e-mail shared by Vilimsky on X from an ORF employee (producer), who described the FPÖ as "far right", then caused a stir. Vilimsky defended his posting, which was criticized by some MPs and journalists.

"Balancing the information situation"
The name and telephone number of the producer were clearly recognizable in the email now shared by the FPÖ head of delegation. "If a representative of the ORF sends an email around the House and disqualifies me as 'far right', I will have the right to defend myself," Vilimsky said in response to the criticism. He described the "possibility that we defend ourselves" as "democracy". He emphasized that he was concerned with "balancing the information situation".

If a representative of the ORF sends an e-mail around the house and disqualifies me as "far right", I will have the right to defend myself.

Harald Vilimsky, FPÖ-Delegationsleiter im EU-Parlament

Vilimsky against ORF: Not the first dispute
This is not Vilimsky's first dispute with the ORF. Just last summer, he lost his temper during an interview on the street.

Vilimsky's parliamentary colleague: "The extreme right does not distinguish us"
His Patriot parliamentary group colleague, Belgian MEP Tom Vandendriessche (Vlaams Belang), pointed out that he is a political scientist when asked by a journalist about his opinion on the current posting. "We are not characterized by the extreme right," said Vandendriessche. He explained that 60 MEPs from 18 member states and five political groups had signed a motion for a resolution to set up a committee of inquiry in the EU Parliament into social media censorship.

People's Party distances itself from Vilimsky
ÖVP delegation leader Reinhold Lopatka distanced himself from Vilimsky. "I don't think much of this kind of behavior, including the choice of words," said Lopatka on the sidelines of the European Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg. "I have a different way of dealing with journalists," emphasized Lopatka, who is negotiating the foreign policy chapter for the People's Party in the ongoing FPÖ-ÖVP coalition negotiations

Greens and SPÖ react indignantly
The Greens reacted indignantly. "They clearly say what they want: To silence inconvenient media," said delegation leader Thomas Waitz. You only have to look at Hungary to see "in which direction we are heading".

Waitz's party colleague Lena Schilling said that Vilimsky's post "unfortunately comes as no surprise". "With the FPÖ, freedom of speech apparently only applies if you agree with their right-wing agitation," she wrote on the social network Bluesky. Vilimsky had "publicly pilloried an ORF employee who does not suit him".

Vilimsky has publicly pilloried an ORF employee who does not suit him.

EU-Abgeordnete Lena Schilling (Die Grünen)

Like the Greens, the SPÖ criticized Vilimsky's actions. "The disclosure of a journalist's personal data is not only a scandal, but an attack on this person's fundamental rights and is therefore deeply condemnable," said Social Democrat MEP Elisabeth Grossmann.

The disclosure of a journalist's personal data is not only a scandal, but an attack on the fundamental rights of this person and is therefore deeply condemnable.

EU-Abgeordnete Elisabeth Grossmann (SPÖ)

The publication "violates the privacy of this person and thus breaks with the data protection to which every citizen is entitled. This kind of behavior further fuels hatred and hate speech online - especially against women. Behavior that we know all too well from right-wing politicians."