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Austria's “shadow chancellor” exposed? Faux pas on Schallenberg's first trip cause a stir

2021-10-16T05:03:39.127Z


Austria's Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg made a curious faux pas during his visit to Brussels. He used the Twitter account of his predecessor Kurz.


Austria's Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg made a curious faux pas during his visit to Brussels.

He used the Twitter account of his predecessor Kurz.

Vienna - There is a new strong man in Austria.

After Sebastian Kurz resigned as Chancellor at the weekend, his desired successor was sworn in as head of government on Monday.

Alexander Schallenberg, who previously held the position of Foreign Minister in the Kurz cabinet, succeeded the ÖVP boss in the Chancellery and will henceforth direct the political fortunes of the Alpine republic.

Austria: Federal Chancellor Schallenberg makes his first official trip to Brussels

After taking office, Chancellor Schallenberg had his first state visit abroad on Thursday.

In Brussels, the 52-year-old met with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Charles Michel to talk about Austria's role in the European Union.

"I came here very deliberately to signal that Austria remains a reliable partner," said the Chancellor to the journalists on site.

Schallenberg is considered a close confidante of his predecessor Kurz and represents positions similar to those of the ÖVP boss.

With regard to the issues of migration policy and attitudes towards Turkey, it is expected that Schallenberg will continue the short course.

Chancellor Schallenberg makes a Twitter faux pas - account used by his predecessor Kurz

How close the old and the new Chancellor of the Federal Republic are to each other is also shown by a curious faux pas that the Schallenberg social media team apparently made on Thursday.

A picture was published on Twitter that shows Schallenberg and his team on the way to Brussels.

"My first trip as Federal Chancellor takes me to Brussels today," was the appropriate post about the picture, which also ended with the promise that Austria would remain a reliable partner of the EU.

However, the account through which the post was sent caused astonishment.

It was Sebastian Kurz's profile.

A little later, the same picture with an identical statement was also published on Schallenberg's account.

Kurz's original tweet has been deleted.

Screenshots of the social media faux pas, however, were shared in large numbers on Twitter on Thursday and commented on with derision by many users.

AHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHA Upsi wrong account 😉 pic.twitter.com/2gySCKLwGm

- Hanna Herbst (@HHumorlos) October 14, 2021

Austria: Twitter scoffs at "Shadow Chancellor" - "If it says Schallenberg, there is short inside"

“Ops briefly swapped the Chancellor accounts” or “If it says Schallenberg, there is short inside”, were two reactions to the incident. What at first seems like a harmless PR misstep, also takes on a deeper meaning in the current political situation. Already at the weekend the allegations had become loud that Schallenberg would only symbolically follow Kurz to appease the coalition partner of the turquoise-green government. The ÖVP boss could - so the allegations - pull the strings as a kind of "shadow chancellor" in the background.

At least one connection between the chancellor's and former chancellor's social media accounts seems to exist.

So both could be looked after by the same communication team.

The coming months will probably show whether this is the only connection between the two ÖVP politicians.

(fd)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-10-16

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