AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR TO SACK INTERIOR MINISTER
VIENNA (DPA) MAY 20, 2019- Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPOE) is bracing for a another blow after being caught in a corruption video sting, as conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is poised to sack FPOE Interior Minister Herbert Kickl.
People’s Party (OEVP) leader Kurz plans to issue a statement at 12:30 pm (1030 GMT) on Monday, after announcing the end of his coalition with the FPOE on Saturday and calling early elections.
The crisis was triggered by a secretly taped video of a 2017 meeting between FPOE leader Strache and a woman posing as a wealthy Russian donor, in which Strache talked about potential infrastructure contracts and about bypassing Austria’s donation law.
Strache stepped down as vice chancellor and party chief on Saturday, but Kurz also wants to kick out Interior Minister Kickl from the caretaker government that will run the country until the elections that are expected in September.
Kickl could not possibly oversee the investigation into the possible corruption case surrounding fellow party member Strache, Kurz’s close associate, Culture Minister Gernot Bluemel, told Austrian broadcaster ORF Sunday night.