The Strache Recordings: Spiegel Online

Democracy depends on the rule of law and transparency. Politicians with extreme ideologies, who reject critical inquiries of journalism and education in the name of tradition, are ready to disrupt democratic norms to achieve money and power. A meeting secretly recorded in 2017 suggests Heinz-Christian Strache and three other Austrians plotted to ensure government contracts for a woman claiming to be a Russian investor in exchange for campaign support. Strache sensed the meeting was a trap but continued the discussion. One plan included purchasing half of an influential Austrian newspaper and demand support for the far right Freedom Party. That party controls Austria’s public broadcast media and ministries that oversee Austria’s three intelligence services. “Concerns that Moscow may have access to Austrian intelligence has led Western intelligence agencies to limit what they share with Vienna,” reports Spiegel Online. The scandal puts Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz under pressure to replace the Freedom Party as a government coalition partner. Strache resigned his position as Austria’s vice chancellor. – YaleGlobal