Austrian chaos Part 2
So this morning, as we pick up the pieces, plenty of open questions remain. Who was behind the sting? It was very professional, not something done with a telephone camera. Somebody had to rent out the villa and equip it with a number of hidden cameras. The “attractive Russian hostess” is only heard, never seen. That is why many presume it was the work of an intelligence agency.
While Austria is not part of NATO, there has always been cooperation with western intelligence services. But with the FPÖ’s Kickl in charge of security services, and the FPO’s close ties to Russia, including their cooperation agreement with Putin’s United Russia, other countries were already wary of sharing information. Their fears have been proved right.
Why was it released now, although the tape was made more than 1 1/2 years ago? The most obvious answer would be to influence the EU elections. In the next days, mainstream politicians in every country will point to it and imply that the FPÖ is not the only far right party that is corrupt, undemocratic and in Putin’s pocket. All of them, from Le Pen to Salvini, Wilders, Weidel and Farage are basically the same. Merkel already implied that in a press briefing last night. We will know in a week if the affair has an impact only in Austria, or in many countries.
Funny how Russian women are involved in all these shady meetings. First it was the Trump Tower meeting with the slippery Russian lawyer. Now the unknown Russian lady in Ibiza, who at least was on the “good” side. And of course we may still get to see the Mother of all Russian women tapes, if Putin feels he needs some more leverage with his puppet.
Finally, the image of our handsome, sunny boy Kurz is certainly going to take a beating. Despite numerous FPÖ atrocities over the past year, he stuck with them, now calling his judgement seriously into question. On the other hand, he may well benefit, as voters leaving the FPÖ flock to his party, and not to the socialists. If the FPÖ loses 40% of their voters, and Kurz’s ÖVP gets 60% of those, they could be Nr 1 by a big margin. Elections will likely be only in September, so its going to be some time before we know how this all turns out.
While Austria is not part of NATO, there has always been cooperation with western intelligence services. But with the FPÖ’s Kickl in charge of security services, and the FPO’s close ties to Russia, including their cooperation agreement with Putin’s United Russia, other countries were already wary of sharing information. Their fears have been proved right.
Why was it released now, although the tape was made more than 1 1/2 years ago? The most obvious answer would be to influence the EU elections. In the next days, mainstream politicians in every country will point to it and imply that the FPÖ is not the only far right party that is corrupt, undemocratic and in Putin’s pocket. All of them, from Le Pen to Salvini, Wilders, Weidel and Farage are basically the same. Merkel already implied that in a press briefing last night. We will know in a week if the affair has an impact only in Austria, or in many countries.
Funny how Russian women are involved in all these shady meetings. First it was the Trump Tower meeting with the slippery Russian lawyer. Now the unknown Russian lady in Ibiza, who at least was on the “good” side. And of course we may still get to see the Mother of all Russian women tapes, if Putin feels he needs some more leverage with his puppet.
Finally, the image of our handsome, sunny boy Kurz is certainly going to take a beating. Despite numerous FPÖ atrocities over the past year, he stuck with them, now calling his judgement seriously into question. On the other hand, he may well benefit, as voters leaving the FPÖ flock to his party, and not to the socialists. If the FPÖ loses 40% of their voters, and Kurz’s ÖVP gets 60% of those, they could be Nr 1 by a big margin. Elections will likely be only in September, so its going to be some time before we know how this all turns out.
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