Filzmaier analyzes

Schilling scandal: The gfrett with the lateral entrants

Hans-Peter Martin stood as the SPÖ's non-party top candidate in 1999. Former TV presenter Ursula Stenzel (center) sat in the EU Parliament for the ÖVP. Dolly Buster failed with just one percent of the vote.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Frank May / dpa Picture Alliance / picturedesk.com, Reinhard Holl, Starpix / picturedesk.com)

There are serious accusations against Green candidate Lena Schilling in the EU election campaign. She is said to have made defamatory statements about a couple she is friends with. Ms. Schilling and her party leaders vehemently deny this as "farce". But what is it like with career changers like Schilling?

1) The point of lateral entrants is that they have a high profile outside the party boundaries in order to bring the party additional votes. This can lead to strange candidacies. For example, Nora Baumgartner ran in the Czech Republic in 2004. Nora, who? Her stage name was Dolly Buster. She was not only a guest of Richard Lugner at the Opera Ball, but also became famous with films for adults, which allegedly nobody had seen. In other words: Ms. Buster was a porn star.