Austria’s ex-Chancellor Kurz and his entourage are suspected of having used tax money to launch favorable surveys in the tabloid media.
Vienna – The long shadow of ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz continues to preoccupy the Austrian judiciary shortly after the third anniversary of his resignation. The Republic of Austria is suing its ex-chancellor, a former pollster, a close confidant and his employees for around three million euros in damages. Background is like the daily newspaper standard reported the investigation that led to the ex-political star’s resignation: Kurz and those around him have since been suspected of using taxpayer money to launch advantageous surveys against government advertisements in the tabloid media. Austria’s media is particularly dependent on such state advertisements.
Accusations against Kurz and the ÖVP: media manipulation through surveys and advertisements
The public prosecutor’s office accuses Kurz, a top Finance Ministry official and a ministry communications employee of having paid a pollster to conduct surveys in the interests of Kurz starting in 2016 and then launching them in the tabloid media. In return, there are said to have been advertisements from the Ministry of Finance.
Kurz and most of his co-defendants deny the allegations. The presumption of innocence applies. Kurz was foreign minister at the time and tried to oust ÖVP Vice-Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner from the party leadership. In 2021 he had to resign after the investigation became known. For the ÖVP, this ended the short chapter of the populist personality cult party. In another trial, Kurz was convicted of making false statements at the beginning of 2024. He appeals against it.
Kurz and those around him are said to have “intentionally caused harm” to Austria
While the criminal proceedings are still stalled, the Ministry of Finance has now joined the criminal proceedings as an injured party. A top official in charge of the lawsuit said standard his ministry wanted to forestall a statute of limitations. The studies and advertisements in question were “not based on the actual needs of the Republic of Austria,” which is why the four defendants “intentionally caused damage” to the state, according to the ministry’s written statement. The defendants acted outside their authority. It was still unclear whether the amount or the number of defendants would increase; the official explained that it was “an interim result” of an internal evaluation of the affair.
Investigations into the matter are still ongoing against the conservative ÖVP. However, the investigations have recently progressed slowly. The daily newspaper reported on Thursday (October 10th). courierThe Vienna Higher Regional Court decided that the public prosecutor’s office could now access the data confiscated from the tabloid media companies: advertising departments are not protected by editorial secrecy.
Dangerous dependency: Austria’s media landscape and government advertisements
The advertising corruption affair pointed to a broader problem in Austria’s media landscape and thus the country’s democracy, many observers said at the time. Austria’s media landscape is partly financially dependent on advertisements from the public sector. According to the media authority RTR, public bodies spent almost 200 million euros on advertising in journalistic media in 2023, much of it on right-wing tabloids, but also significantly less than in 2022.
At the same time, there was relatively little quality media funding in what was a very difficult media market due to its large neighbor Germany. The Austrian media portal kobuk.at reported layoffs at two quality newspapers in June. Despite everything, Austrian journalism continues to make its contribution to the functioning of democracy in the Alpine republic.
Austria’s media is vulnerable to influence by the FPÖ after its election victory due to dependencies
After the victory of the right-wing authoritarian FPÖ in the National Council elections in September, this situation could pose a threat to the country’s democracy. The right-wing radical FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl repeatedly called for the “Orbánization” of Austria. One of Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orbán’s first targets after he cemented his power by amending the constitution in 2011 was the independent media. He monopolized the private media sector through loyal entrepreneurs who bought up media. There is now no longer any relevant independent daily newspaper in Hungary.
The ÖVP does not yet want to form a coalition with the FPÖ under Kickl. However, the conservatives have already made the first concessions to the far right, such as the office of President of Parliament. Most recently, both parties ruled together under ÖVP Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. The government failed because of the “Ibiza corruption affair”. (kb)
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