19 May

Austrian Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache has resigned over a corruption scandal.

Strache, who is leader of the far-right Freedom Party, made the announcement in Vienna on Saturday. That came a day after German media published excerpts of a video of him speaking with a woman claiming to be a niece of a Russian oligarch. The weekly Der Spiegel and daily newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung ran the footage and reported that Strache offered public works contracts in return for funding for the 2017 election.

The video shows the entire exchange. At Saturday's news conference, Strache admitted to the meeting, but denied doing anything illegal. Following Strache's resignation, the country's chancellor called for an election to be held as soon as possible. Sebastian Kurz, who is head of the governing coalition, told reporters on Saturday that "enough is enough."

The scandal comes less than a week before European Parliament elections. Nationalist parties are expected to increase the number of seats they hold in the chamber. Some media say the scandal may have a negative impact on Europe's far-right parties.—NHK