Nationalist right crumbles in Austria

Austria’s vice-chancellor and Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache was forced to resign after promising state contracts for cash.

Dr Matthew Partridge
By
published
in Features

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Heinz-Christian Strache: promised contracts for cash
(Image credit: 2018 Getty Images)

A "lurid" video showing Austria's vice-chancellor and Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache "promising state contracts for cash" to a woman claiming to be a relative of a Russian oligarch has brought down the Austrian government, says Jonathan Tirone for Bloomberg. Strache was forced to resign. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz also fired the interior minister, Herbert Kickl. That was a "bridge too far" for the rest of the Freedom Party (FPO), and its ministers resigned en masse. With the coalition between that party and Kurz's Austrian People's Party now over, Kurz has agreed to call fresh elections in September.

Ditching the far right may be a blessing in disguise for Kurz, however, says Valerie Hopkins in the FT. Even before the coalition was formed, the FPO earned intense criticism for signing a co-operation agreement with Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. Despite this, the FPO was given control of all three of Austria's intelligence services, prompting the agencies of other Western countries to limit their co-operation with Austria.

Kurz may now strengthen his party's position in a new election if he can win over disgruntled Freedom Party voters, says Matthew Karnitschnig for Politico. By contrast, Europe's far-right parties are likely to face "uncomfortable questions" on the eve of the European elections about their own relationships with "unsavoury Russian actors", as they have generally pursued "a similarly Russia-friendly strategy" to the FPO. At the very least, the other far-right parties are likely to try to distance themselves from the Austrians, complicating efforts to unite Europe's far-right parties into a new political alliance.

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri

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