Austrian Elections & Politics 5.0 (Burgenland state election - January 26)

[pilskonzept]

I hope that Kurz will finally drain the swamp.

#TakeOutTheTrashDay

U kurcu, as they say in some countries that used to be part of Austria.

Isn't a coalition partner that can be blackmailed at any moment exactly what Kurz prefers?

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i hope the people of Austria (and other European countries as well) realize, what kind of people this FPÖ/afd/lega/fn… really are.

People are fully aware of that fact.

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It is certainly possible that Böhmermann is behind it ... but he should probably not confirm it (if he doesn’t want to end up as a corpse in a trash can, being put down by a Russian or Bosnian Serbian hitman hired by Strache or Gudenus (Gudenus studied in Russia and his wife is Bosnian Serbian ) ...

Bosnian means someone from Bosnia, which includes Bosniaks, who are Muslims and not big fans of him, so I'll correct it for you.

Hope they don't escalate this further. Gudenus and Strache made their own beds, so they shouldn't make things worse.

Gudenus' wife is Bosnian Serb, but yes, the FPÖ's loss of power runs against Serbian interests.

As to the Russians...I guess they are as likely to take out Strache and Gudenus for getting caught? Would be a very different thing if Böhmermann was Russian or ex-Soviet and thus seen as a traitor.

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The people in the video are actors, not oligarchs, and the villa was rented on Airbnb. (not some conspiracy, it was already in the original article that published it).  

So, someone hired actors, rented the cars and the villa, and set the whole thing up, which would not be good for that person's health if Russia is interested enough in finding out who smeared a Russian friendly party.

Affecting western citizens' physical health - as opposed to destroying their reputation or career - does not fit the Russian services' MO. Collateral damage excluded, of course.

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First opinion poll after the ibiza affair:

Research Affairs for TZ Österreich:

ÖVP: 38% (+4)
SPÖ: 26% (+1)
FPÖ: 18% (-5)
NEOS: 9% (+1)
GRÜNE: 5%
JETZT: 2%
Others: 2% (-1)

+/- compared to the poll released last week

Sure that that poll was not taken at least partly before the Ibiza affair? If not, FPÖ voters seem to be very loyal...

Yes, I'm sure.

survey period:
May 18-20

oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/1-Umfrage-FPOe-stuerzt-brutal-ab/380879718

You'd probably see a sharper drop in raw numbers.

Snap election in Burgenland: 26th January 2020

Takes the snap out of "snap election", doesn't it? Why such a long time on life support?

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Ok. It' not really "snap". Better I call it "early election"?

Well, it's just four months early. What made Doskozil choose that date? Something like, the latest date acceptable to SPÖ and the earliest date aceeptable to FPÖ?

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President VdB today dismissed all FPÖ cabinet members except Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl (an Independent presented by the FPÖ). She has said she would like to continue over the next months and VdB accepted.

Wait, so the woman who had Putin show up at her wedding is the only FPÖ member who gets to stay in Cabinet following a scandal in which her party leader was caught attempting to collude with Russian interests?

To be fair: Karin Kneissl is not an FPÖ-member, but an Independent diplomat who speaks like 8 different languages and has lived in the Middle-East for years (the FPÖ appointed her as Foreign Minister). Kneissl invited Putin to her wedding yes, and he accepted and came and they danced together (she said it was good manners).

"Well, Vladimir, feel free to to business with us. Just keep away from the shady folks, please."

Doesn't exactly fit with vdB's center-left reputation, though.