Austria’s chancellor named as suspect in corruption probe

Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz has been named by prosecutors as a suspect in an investigation into corruption, according to a copy of a warrant seen by the Financial Times after police raided ministries and political offices across Vienna on Wednesday.

A warrant issued by the Central State Prosecutor for Economic Crime and Corruption (WKStA) cited Kurz as a suspect under suspicion of abetting bribery and perjury.

Five other senior officials close to Kurz are also named in the warrant. None of the individuals named have been formally charged in the investigation.

The probe centres on whether fake invoices were generated at the finance ministry in order to direct €1.2m of government funding to pro-Kurz media outlets between 2016 and 2017, during Kurz’s tenure as Austrian foreign minister. At the time Kurz was positioning himself to take over the leadership of the mainstream conservative Austrian People’s party.

Analysts said the probe was likely to deepen the problems facing the coalition government between the People’s party and the Green party.

In a statement on Wednesday evening, Kurz said: “Groundless accusations are now being constructed against my team and me about events that in part date back five years.”

The allegations had been “systematically constructed” by prosecutors taking SMS messages and communications out of context, the chancellor said.

Previous investigations by the WKStA against party colleagues had come to nothing, Kurz pointed out. “I am convinced that these accusations, too, will soon turn out to be false.”

The WKStA declined to comment.

The People’s party said the investigation was “politically motivated” and “staged for show”. Party deputy general secretary and MP Gaby Schwarz said: “[It is] always the same goal and system: to massively damage the People’s party and Sebastian Kurz.”

This week, senior People’s party officials said the WKStA was run by “leftist cells” who were unabashedly pursuing a political agenda to compromise the chancellor.

Kurz promised this year to reform Austria’s prosecutorial system and criticised the WKStA for its incompetence and poor record in winning cases in court.

Police raids, ordered by the WKStA, took place on Wednesday at the federal chancellery, the headquarters of the People’s party and at the finance ministry, two sources familiar with the WKStA investigation told the FT.

The People’s party and Greens have been in coalition since the beginning of 2020.

“There has never been an investigation into a chancellor like this in Austria’s postwar history,” said Austrian political analyst Marcus How at VE Insight. “Of course, Kurz is still just a suspect and hasn’t been charged but the question will be whether, even with this as an open investigation, the Green party will [want] to uphold the government.”

The chancellor’s previous government, a coalition with the rightwing populist Freedom party, collapsed in 2019 after a corruption scandal. Freedom party leader, and vice-chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache was filmed on the island of Ibiza soliciting Russian support for his party in exchange for promises of government favours.

Kurz’s relationship with the Greens has already been under strain.

A separate and ongoing investigation into Kurz, for allegedly perjuring himself in front of an official parliamentary investigation, has been a sticking point in coalition relations this year.

The WKStA’s new investigation is far more serious, however, analysts said.

The allegations in its 104-page warrant seem “concrete”, according to the prominent Austrian political consultant Thomas Hofer.

“Using the ministry of finance and the communications department there to generate fake invoices . . . this is totally crazy if it’s true. It is really taking the problems facing Kurz to another level,” Hofer said.

“I think that if there is something in this — and we’re basically talking about kickbacks here — then it’s something I think the Greens will hardly be able to swallow.”