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Heinz-Christian Strache | |
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.JPG) Strache in 2020 | |
| Vice-Chancellor of Austria | |
| In office 18 December 2017 – 22 May 2019 | |
| Chancellor | Sebastian Kurz |
| Preceded by | Wolfgang Brandstetter |
| Succeeded by | Hartwig Löger |
| Minister of the Civil Service and Sport | |
| In office 8 January 2018 – 22 May 2019 | |
| Chancellor | Sebastian Kurz |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Juliane Bogner-Strauß |
| Chair of theFreedom Party | |
| In office 23 April 2005 – 19 May 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Ursula Haubner |
| Succeeded by | Norbert Hofer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1969-06-12)12 June 1969 (age 56) Vienna, Austria |
| Party | Team HC Strache (since 2020) |
| Other political affiliations | Freedom Party (until October 2019) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3 |
| Signature | .png) |
| Criminal information | |
| Criminal information | |
| Criminal status | acquitted |
| Criminal charge | Accepting bribes |
| Penalty | 15 months ofprobation |
| Part ofa series on |
| Conservatism in Austria |
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Heinz-Christian Strache (Austrian German:[haɪntsˈkrɪsti̯a(ː)nˈʃtraxɛ]; born 12 June 1969) is an Austrianpolitician anddental technician who served asVice-Chancellor of Austria from 2017 to 2019 before resigning owing to his involvement in theIbiza affair. He was alsoMinister of Civil Service and Sports from January 2018 to May 2019 and chairman of theFreedom Party (FPÖ) from April 2005 to May 2019.[1] He previously served as a member of theNational Council from October 2006 until December 2017 and as a member of themunicipal council and state legislature of Vienna (2001–2006).
In May 2019, footage from 2017 was released showing Strache suggesting he could offer business contracts in exchange for political support from a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch.[2][3] The video also shows his ideas about turning the country's largest-circulation tabloid, theKronen Zeitung, into a mouthpiece of the FPÖ.[4][5][6] On 18 May 2019, in the wake of theIbiza affair, Strache announced his resignation as vice-chancellor of Austria, minister, and chairman of the Freedom Party.
On 1 October 2019, Strache announced that he was retiring from politics and suspending his membership in the Freedom Party.[7] Despite his vow to retire from politics, Strache joined the then-regionalAlliance for Austria (DAÖ) party in February 2020, and became its chairman on 14 May, and stated that the party would run in the 2020 elections for theGemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna. TheOberpullendorf District branch of the FPÖ switched its affiliation to that of the DAÖ in April, and some other branches were considering similar moves, meaning the party wasde facto operating on a national level thereafter.
Strache, who is by profession adental technician, has been active in the politics ofVienna since 1991. He was elected to theMunicipal Council and Landtag of Vienna in 2001. In 2004, he replacedHilmar Kabas as the leader of theFPÖ in Vienna. He had been considered a disciple of long-time national party leaderJörg Haider, but began to oppose him as the result of increased strife within the party in January 2005.[citation needed]
After a series of losses in state elections, rumours spread that Strache would run for the office of national party leader against Haider's sister,Ursula Haubner. The high risk of Haubner's defeat was probably one of the events that induced Haider to set up a new party, theAlliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ). After the split, Strache was elected national party leader of the FPÖ on 23 April 2005.[citation needed]
Since the split, Strache led the FPÖ further to the right. The FPÖ's results in state elections in the last decade have been mixed. While it dropped out of theStyriaLandtag and was reduced to 5.7% inBurgenland, it surpassed expectations in the Vienna elections of October 2005. Strache himself was the leading candidate in Vienna, and the party received 14.9% of votes. Strache's campaign, included slogans such as:
In January 2007, stills taken from a video shot in the late 1980s were published showing a uniformed Strache allegedly participating in paramilitary training activities. Other people on the pictures were claimed to be knownneo-Nazis. Strache has denied the allegations, stating the pictures are of him playingpaintball as an 18-year-old. In his initial reaction, ChancellorAlfred Gusenbauer referred to the incident as a "folly of youth" (Jugendtorheit).[8][9] At the end of January, further pictures were published, allegedly showing Strache performing aNazi salute (theKühnen salute). Strache denied the allegations prior to publication of the pictures. After publication, Strache argued that the picture showed him ordering three beers and was not a Nazi salute. AustrianJewish community leaders criticized the government for its lack of response.[9]
In the 2010 Vienna elections for Mayor of Vienna, Vienna City Council, and district councils, Strache's party received 26% of the vote and increased their number of seats in the city council to 27.[10] His support was strongest among young people under 30.[11]
The campaign included slogans such as:
Strache was once again accused of xenophobia during his campaign and responded formally in the press to the allegations.[12] In August 2012, Strache caused condemnation and outrage when posting a picture on Facebook that was a caricature depicting a banker with a hooked nose andStar of David cufflinks.[13]
Strache campaigned for the FPÖ in the lead up to2019 European Parliament election in Austria. In whatThe Guardian described as "doubling down" on rhetoric ahead of the election,[14] Strache endorsed the far-right conspiracy of thegreat replacement.[15] He claimed that "population replacement" was real, adding: "We don’t want to become a minority in our own country".[16]
On 17 May 2019 a video was released from a July 2017 meeting inIbiza,Spain, appearing to show Strache andJohann Gudenus discussing underhanded political practices.[17][18] In the video, both politicians appeared receptive to proposals by a mysterious woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarchIgor Makarov, discussing providing the FPÖ positive news coverage in return for business contracts. Strache and Gudenus also hinted at corrupt political practices involving other wealthy donors to the FPÖ in Europe and elsewhere. The scandal caused the collapse of theAustrian governing coalition and the announcement of asnap election.[19][20][21] Strache is currently under investigation for misuse of party funds.[22] He is also under trial for corruption.[23]
Strache was expelled from the FPÖ in December 2019 for his role in the scandal.[24] In August 2020, the public prosecutor's office received an additional 5 minutes of video footage which appeared to relieve Strache from some of the accusations. In the uncut video, Strache had refused the decoy's offer and doing anything illegal. Strache accusedDer Spiegel and theSüddeutsche Zeitung of showing selectively edited material.[25]
In the ORF documentaryThe talented Mr. Strache - How to destroy a career, which was broadcast in April 2022, opponents, companions and Strache himself reviewed his political career from rise to fall, and also dealt specifically with the Ibiza affair.[26]
In February 2020, Strache became leader ofTeam HC Strache – Alliance for Austria. He participated in the2020 Viennese state election, but his party did not win any seats.[23]
Strache flew toNew York shortly after the election ofDonald Trump in December 2016 to meet withMichael Flynn at theTrump Tower.[27] Flynn had just helped lead the effort to elect Trump and served as hisNational Security Advisor for 24 days in January through February 2017.[28] Also in November, Austrian far-right politiciansNorbert Hofer and Strache went to Russia in order to become go-betweens to facilitate cooperation betweenPutin and Trump. While in Moscow, the Freedom Party concluded a "working agreement" with Putin's United Russia Party.[29][30] Flynn later resigned after information surfaced that he had misled theFBI and Vice PresidentMike Pence about the nature and content of his communications withRussian Ambassador to the U.S.Sergey Kislyak.[31][32][33]
Strache wasindicted on grounds ofbribery by the Public Prosecutorial Service for Economic Cases and Corruption (WKStA) in the Criminal Court of Vienna.[34] Thecriminal charge accused the FPÖ – under Strache's leadership – of having accepted illicit campaign donations totaling €12,000 from Walter Grubmüller, the owner of a private nursing home in Vienna.[35] Grubmüller had allegedly bribed Strache to sponsor a legislative bill amending the law which governs thePrivatkrankenanstalten-Finanzierungsfonds, a government fund that supports private medical institutions.[36] The amendment would have caused the fund to also cover Grubmüller's nursing home and allowed him to charge the ÖGK – a public health insurance organization in Austria – for patients who choose the public option.[37]
On 27 August 2021, Strache and Grubmüller were convicted and sentenced to 15 months ofprobation; Stracheappealed the ruling to the Vienna Court of Appeals (Oberlandesgericht).[38][39] The Vienna Court of Appeals reversed the judgment - since in its view, exculpatory material had not been considered properly - and remanded the case.[40] On 10 January 2023 the Criminal Court of Vienna acquitted Strache, citing lack of proof.[41][42]
A glance across the border is all you need to realize what he means, where the Hungarian public broadcasting system has already been the government's mouthpiece for several years. Even the privately held media there is largely under the control of people connected with Orbán. In such a situation, one doesn't have to worry much about unwanted criticism, and it's also easier to win elections. Freedom of the press? That's something that Strache also finds to be something of a nuisance...
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Media related toHeinz-Christian Strache at Wikimedia Commons
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| Preceded by | Chair of theFreedom Party 2005–2019 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Vice-Chancellor of Austria 2017–2019 | Succeeded by |
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