Free Republic

AUSTRIA'S chancellor has been forced to quit after he was named as a prime suspect in a corruption probe just four years after becoming the world's youngest leader. Sebastian Kurz and nine of his associates have been accused of using public money to pay to manipulate polls and to secure friendly reports in the media... ...Kurz became the world's youngest leader when he was elected as chancellor at the age of 31 in 2017. Nicknamed "wunderwuzzi" or “wonderkid" at the time, Kurz topped the poll with over 31.5 per cent of the vote....

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s conservative People’s Party and Green Party leader Werner Kogler presented their government’s program. The new coalition government in Austria pledged to fight anti-Zionism in addition to antisemitism, in its written program released on Thursday. As a part of that fight, Austria will not support any initiatives in international organizations, like the UN, that question Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish...

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has lost a confidence vote in parliament, removing him from office over a political scandal that brought down his coalition government. The no-confidence motion on May 27 was backed by lawmakers from the Social Democrats and the far-right Freedom Party, which was in coalition with Kurz until the chancellor ended their alliance last week. The political crisis was triggered last week by a 2017 video purportedly showing his vice chancellor, Heinz-Christian Strache, offering contracts to a potential Russian benefactor in exchange for political donations. Strache, with the Freedom Party, announced his resignation from the government on...

Detailed proposals and recommendations for combating antisemitism in Europe were presented on Wednesday at a conference in Vienna arranged by the Federal Chancellery of Austria led by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. The recommendations, called the “Catalogue of Policies to Combat Antisemitism,” were drawn up by the European Jewish Congress with the assistance of academics from universities in Vienna, Tel Aviv and New York. “Antisemitism and anti-Zionism are getting blurred, but they are two sides of the same coin,” Kurz said during his opening address at the high level conference, titled “Europe beyond antisemitism and anti-Zionism – securing Jewish life in...

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz spoke about Erdoğan’s threats after the mosques under the AKP government were closed and imams deported to Turkey. Kurz said: “We are not afraid of your threats.” Austria had recently ruled to deport 60 imams and their families who had ties to the Turkish state, under the country’s “combatting political Islam” policy. 7 mosques were closed down, and the Austrian government’s decision came after children were put in army uniforms in these Turkish mosques. Turkish President Erdoğan and AKP officials started to target Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz after these rulings. AKP supporters posted death threats against...

Austria’s new chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, said that the European Union’s migrant quotas have not worked and that he wants to change the “erroneous refugee policy”. Kurz has now joined forces with the leaders of Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic; countries that have already refused to adopt the EU migrant quota scheme. According to Kurz it is “positive that Tusk (President of the European Council) and several European states are pressing first and foremost for decent border protection and spending more EU funds on this”. Earlier Tusk called the troubled scheme “ineffective” and “highly divisive” before an EU summit in...

Sebastian Kurz's election victory last night has sent shockwaves through Europe as it appears he may seek a coalition with the country's anti-immigration Freedom Party. The Eurosceptic leader of Austria's right-leaning People's Party has declared victory in a national election that puts him on track to become the world's youngest leader. Kurz, 31, fell well short of a majority and may be looking to strike a deal with another party. The Freedom Party (FPO) got around 26 percent of votes in Sunday's parliamentary vote, boosted by a European migration crisis in 2015 that affected Austria and also led Kurz to...

VIENNA — At age 31, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz is poised to become the first millennial to lead a European country following his party’s victory in a national election Sunday. While no party won a majority, the telegenic Kurz is most likely to be sworn in as Austria’s next chancellor — and Europe’s youngest leader — after the tough coalition government negotiations that lie ahead. Near-final results from Sunday’s balloting put his People’s Party comfortably in first place, with 31.4 percent of the vote. The right-wing Freedom Party came in second with 27.4 percent. The center-left Social Democratic Party...

Vienna (AFP) - Austria's political "whizz-kid" Sebastian Kurz was on course Sunday to become Europe's youngest leader, potentially in coalition with the far-right, after his conservative party looked to have triumphed in elections. Kurz's People's Party (OeVP) won 30.5 percent of the vote, followed by Chancellor Christian Kern's Social Democrats (SPOe) on 27.1 percent and the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) on 25.9 percent, projections on public TV showed. Kurz, 31, nicknamed "wunderwuzzi", ("whizzkid") took over the OeVP in May and managed to attract supporters in droves by depicting himself as a breath of fresh air, talking tough on immigration and...

SEBASTIAN Kurz is expected to clinch victory in the Austria elections, according to the latest projections, which could see him form an alliance with the far right in a crushing blow for the European Union.

Battle of health care videos 8:01Reliable Sources: W.H. wades into war of YouTube videos about health care. Howard Kurtz talks to Linda Douglass.