The World Briefly

February 27, 2024

A Verdict, Kurzgesagt

Austria

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A court in Austria last week found the country’s former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz guilty of perjury and handed him a suspended eight-month prison sentence, in a case that’s part of a series of corruption scandals that eventually sent the charismatic leader out of office, Al Jazeera reported.

The Vienna court focused on a testimony Kurz gave to a 2020 parliamentary inquiry on the appointment of executives to the state-owned Österreichische Beteiligungs AG (ÖBAG) company that oversees the investments of sovereign funds in fully or part-public companies. Though the appointments were officially under the competence of the finance minister, Kurz was accused of taking matters into his own hands.

He told the parliamentary commission that he was “involved in the sense of (being) informed” but did not influence the nomination process. However, prosecutors rejected the claim, using evidence such as text messages and testimony from ÖBAG chief Thomas Schmid. Schmid alleged that Kurz had established a “system” for him to be the main decision-maker regarding personnel in critical companies and conferred him the power of veto power.

Following a four-month trial, the court ruled in favor of prosecutors. Kurz decided to appeal the ruling, which he called “unfair.”

Kurz became one of Europe’s youngest leaders at age 31 in 2017 when his conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) entered a coalition with the far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), making him chancellor. The administration collapsed two years later after a leaked video showed his FPÖ vice chancellor offering public contracts to a Russian investor for campaign support.

Though he won the following snap election and headed another coalition with the Greens, he quit his position and politics in 2021 amid growing scandals over his alleged attempts to use public money for his own image. Prosecutors are still probing this corruption case.

Observers described last week’s ruling as the last nail in the coffin of a potential comeback for Kurz, which could have boosted his party’s fortunes. Nonetheless, as Austria is holding a general election later this year, polls predict that the ÖVP will lose seats, and a majority of Austrians do not want Kurz to return to government.

Meanwhile, the former Chancellor said he was happy with his new duties as a businessman.

This story originally appeared in the February 27, 2024 newsletter, Family Feud.