Friday, October 8, 2021

chancellor’s way
Chats provide information about Kurzo’s moves

from Katherine Hetzel

Austrian investigators evaluate page-by-page chats between Chancellor Kurz and third parties. They came to this conclusion: the surveys were faked with taxpayer money to help the young politician Sebastian Kurz, first at the helm of the OVP, and then the chancellor.

It reads like an episode of “House of Cards”—but it’s not about a fictional American politician, but Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. Manipulation, bribery, infidelity – all of these have been blamed on senior government employees in the von Kurz party. The aim was to bring Kurz and his party OVP as the head of the Austrian government. According to investigators from the Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (WKSTA), lengthy conversations between party members and an Austrian tabloid magazine as well as various “fake bills” suggest this. Documents are available for NTV. Meanwhile, an alliance with the Greens is on the verge. The alliance partner with the opposition is now exploring alternatives.

Three groups of people involved in the affair

Did Sebastian Kurz Really Become Austrian Chancellor Through Bribery? WKStA investigators collect evidence for this suspicion. From 2016, Kurz and his team should have strived to achieve this ambitious goal. During the raid, investigators secured several laptops, cell phones and documents. In doing so, they will find conversations that are supposed to document the actions of Kurz’s team well and now serve as evidence.

The WKStA report suggests that three groups of people are involved in this case:

• Confident of Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and his team He is said to have done everything to paint a positive image of OVP and Kurz in the media and thus to beat the then OVP boss Reinhold Mitterlehner in the race for chancellor.
• a pollsterThose who are said to have rigged VP’s surveys on tax costs.
• Newspaper magazine “Austria”, which is said to have featured articles specifically as philanthropic reporting on behalf of Kurz’s team.

survey manipulation

According to investigators’ report, Kurz’s team followed a strict plan. At the time, his popularity rating was not nearly as high as it was recently. The public and the party still had to be convinced that he could become the leader and chancellor of the party. According to the investigation, an opinion pollster prepared elaborate surveys for the OVP, which he presented to the public as an “independent expert”. However, as alleged by investigators, the survey results were controlled by the OVP itself.

According to WKStA, pollsters later manipulated or specified the results in many cases. This is how Kurz’s team laid out the results of a new survey on the performance of parties in a chat message: “Green Strong, Sosys Medium, Bissal Neos, VP Next to Nothing”.

Another message to Kurz (following the publication of an apparently ornate survey) confirms that the OVP “calculated the results well”: “When it comes to social issues, we turn to SPÖ. One has to be careful while calculating, otherwise it will be impossible”.

Newspaper “Austria”:

As an ally, the newspaper “Osterreich” has contributed to the manipulation: Kurz’s team was able to control public opinion through him. In some cases, the type of reporting specifically in chat was planned in advance.

One chat reveals that the newspaper almost always acted according to the wishes of Kurz’s team. However, when the “agreed material with respect to the various results of the survey” is not explicitly published by the newspaper, it becomes clear that the previously discussed “agreement” would have been violated:

“This is really a cheek and not a confidence-building one. WE ARE REALLY ANGRY!!!! MEGA ANGRY”, Kurz writes ‘Team of the newspaper. It gives and tries to please with a big positive article: “I totally understand – I’ll get back to you in 30 minutes – now I’ll make a full double page about the survey on Wednesday. Ok?”

Did Kurz know about all this?

Investigators see Kurz as a “central figure”, as all the work was “tailored” in his interest. He was informed about all the steps being taken by his team. For example, Kurz received the following messages about the publication of individual survey results:

Secretary General in the Ministry of Finance: “Survey on Sunday everything should be fine.”
Secretary General in the Ministry of Finance: “New Prices! Call Me Mr. Poll :-))”

Or after a disastrous poll about Kurz’s competitor, which was published in the tabloid magazine “Austria”.

Small: “Thanks to Austria today”
Secretary General in the Ministry of Finance: “Always at your service.”

According to investigators, the propaganda project was financed with money from the Ministry of Finance.