"More questions unanswered"

ÖVP wants to keep working on Kickl after committee

FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl(Bild: APA/Roland Schlager)

The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) wants to continue investigating former Interior Minister and current FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl in the committee on the "red-blue abuse of power". Among other things, chats between the former FPÖ security spokesman Hans-Jörg Jenewein and the former constitutional protection officer Egisto Ott, who is in custody on suspicion of espionage, will continue to be discussed and Kickl will also be questioned again, said ÖVP Secretary General Christian Stocker at a press conference on Friday.

After Kickl's appearance in the committee yesterday, more questions remain unanswered than before, Stocker said. The FPÖ leader had not used his opportunity to provide clarification. Stocker now wants around 2500 analyzed chats by Jenewein to be delivered to the committee in order to shed light on the connections between him, Ott and Kickl. Kickl repeatedly demands that his predecessors and successors memorize the CVs of all ministry employees down to the porter - but at the same time he does not know what his closest employees have to do with Russia.

FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl(Bild: APA/Roland Schlager)

Photo should "prove" Kickl's closeness to Jenewein
Although Kickl denied that Jenewein had been his right-hand man, Stocker said. As "counter-evidence", he had a photo shown of Jenewein sitting to the right of Kickl. The committee now wanted to give Kickl the opportunity to comment on his connections to Jenewein at a further meeting. The same applies to the topic of espionage, the dismantling of the former Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (BVT) and the FPÖ's links to Russia.

Stocker also wants the fiduciary contracts of Kickl, which were discussed in yesterday's committee, to be examined. The FPÖ leader should disclose which interests in companies and assets are involved - this is the only way to draw conclusions about the underlying interests.

Stocker: "This is not a mud fight"
At the same time, Stocker rejected the notion that a mud-slinging was currently underway between the ÖVP and FPÖ. The FPÖ is involved in an espionage affair and is Russia's gateway to Austria. "This is not mud-slinging, this is serious." The ÖVP Secretary General denied that the current Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) had intervened for a post for his wife during Kickl's time in office. At the time, Kickl "had problems in the media sector in his ministry: He was offered support, he didn't accept it."