As of: March 13, 2024, 5:05 p.m
By: Simon Schröder
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FPÖ federal party chairman Herbert Kickl is the focus of the investigation into cozying up to Putin's Russia. © IMAGO / Rudolf Gigler
A parliamentary committee is supposed to clarify the FPÖ's connections to Russia.
The misappropriation of public funds by FPÖ leader Kickl is also being investigated.
Vienna – A parliamentary investigative committee in Austria is supposed to examine, among other things, the right-wing FPÖ’s contacts with Russia.
At the time of its participation in government from 2017 to 2019, the FPÖ brought the country into an extremely dangerous situation with its cozy policy towards Russia, said Green MP Meri Disoski on Wednesday (March 13) at the start of the first meeting.
ÖVP parliamentary group leader Andreas Hanger told the press on Tuesday that due to time constraints, the focus would be primarily on the FPÖ, while the SPÖ would be left out.
The focus is on “double standards, hypocrisy and favoritism”, as well as on the “Kickl system”, as the faction leader described it according to the
Standard
.
The conservative ÖVP, at whose request the committee was set up, recalled the actions of the then Interior Minister Herbert Kickl (FPÖ) against the Austrian secret service BVT and visits to the ministry by the ex-Wirecard manager Jan Marsalek, who is now wanted worldwide.
This created an “incredible security risk for Austria,” said ÖVP MP Andreas Hanger.
FPÖ is sure: “He will fail spectacularly” – luxury salaries for the FPÖ
The native Austrian and former deputy head of the insolvent payment service provider Wirecard is the main suspect in the financial fraud involving the Munich-based company and is believed to have fled to Russia.
According to findings by
Spiegel
and the
Süddeutsche Zeitung,
the ex-board member probably cooperated or even worked with the Russian secret service.
The FPÖ spoke of a “desperate attempt” to dismantle current FPÖ leader Kickl a few months before the National Council elections.
“It will fail spectacularly,” said FPÖ MP Christian Hafenecker.
Another focus of the committee is the question of any abuse of power by the SPÖ and FPÖ in the years 2007 to 2020 “in the form of improper use of public money,” as the application states.
Luxury salaries of up to 15,000 euros per month were paid to FPÖ cabinet employees, said Hanger.
Aid funds for billionaires during Corona – Peschorn is the first to testify about Kickl
A week ago, a committee was set up to analyze any abuse of power by the ÖVP at the request of the SPÖ and FPÖ.
It is about the suspicion that billionaires may have received preferential aid money during the Corona crisis thanks to the influence of the conservative ÖVP.
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Wolfgang Peschorn was the first person to be interviewed in the committee.
Peschorn, President of the Financial Procuratorate, as Interior Minister of the interim government, already submitted an audit report to get an idea of his predecessors' spending, as
the Standard
reported.
The former interior minister put a stop to Kickl's idea of a mounted police force for cost and animal welfare reasons.
The two current committees are each scheduled to last just a few days because of the deadlines that must be observed before the National Council election.
They follow the tradition of the Ibiza Investigative Committee and the ÖVP Corruption Committee, which in turn focused on abuse of power and nepotism.
A new parliament is expected to be elected in Austria at the end of September.
The FPÖ leads in surveys with around 27 percent of the vote, ahead of the SPÖ and ÖVP with around 22 percent each.
(dpa/SiSchr)