Corruption affair at the top of Austrian politics:
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced today (Saturday) his resignation as prime minister, just days after the country's main prosecution raided his offices and the offices of his party, the Austrian People's Party, and his advisers, on suspicion of bribery. To publish positive surveys.
Kurtz has announced that he will continue to be the party's leader in parliament and the party is expected to continue to be the ruling party when someone else on its behalf becomes prime minister until Kurtz proves his innocence.
The reason for the move is to prevent the dissolution of the government, after Kurtz lost the Greens' support for the coalition and lost the no-confidence vote that was already set for next Tuesday.
Elected Chancellor of Austria: 31-year-old Sebastian Kurz
Law enforcement officials raided the office of Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz last Wednesday, the Ministry of Finance and the headquarters of the Austrian People's Party (OVP) in Vienna, as part of an investigation into a corruption case in which he is allegedly involved.
In addition, law enforcement officers also raided the homes and offices of a number of Kurtz's senior advisers.
The main suspicion is that Kurtz, his advisers and officials in the ruling party, were involved in an illegal conspiracy in which the owners of a local newspaper - Oesterreich - bribed in 2016 to publish flattering polls on Kurtz when he was still foreign minister.
At that time the Ministry of Finance - through which the payments were allegedly made - was already under the control of his party.
"Kurtz, nine people and three organizations, are currently suspected of breach of trust, corruption and bribery," the chief prosecutor's office said in a statement.
According to the suspicion, this conduct lasted at least until 2018, when Kurtz was already Kurtz.
The prosecution in the country believes that it was the Austrian Ministry of Finance that paid the newspaper's owner, Wolgang Planner.
Meaning - not only was bribery committed, but tax money was also used.
Flanner's printing house issued a statement saying the investigation was the result of a "serious misunderstanding" and the newspaper also issued a statement denying any misconduct.
The ruling party has tried in recent days to advance a cure for Mecca and said that those behind the investigation are elements who want to harm the government and oust Kurtz from power.
"I am convinced that all these allegations will turn out to be serious, as they were in the past," Kurtz responded in a statement on his behalf.
According to him, the messages sent in the correspondence of the telephones investigated in the case were taken out of context to create the impression that they were criminal.
