Ex-Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache of Austria’s far-right Freedom Party has resigned and may be facing criminal charges following the release of a secretly taped video in which he discussed offering public contracts in exchange for campaign funding. The video footage, recorded in 2017 just before the country’s elections, shows Strache speaking with a woman believed to be the niece of a Russian oligarch.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has withdrawn from the governing coalition, which included the Freedom Party, following the video’s release, triggering new elections in September 2019.
