Even after two and a half years, we do not know all the details of the Ibiza scandal that brought down the Austrian government. Former vice-chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache, the former president of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), considers the case a coup and an assassination, and his recently published book about it has already been seized. We quote from the Magyar Hírlap interview.

– The heavily edited video leaked in the Ibiza case brought down the joint government of the Austrian People's Party and the Freedom Party in 2019. What was the biggest misrepresentation in the video?

– It is a video material of more than seven hours, which was made using criminal methods and tools that suggest secret services. There were lures, guided questions, and alcohol. From all this, they cut together a ridiculous, manipulative, three- to five-minute material. In this way, the context of the statements that can be heard has been deliberately twisted. It is clear from the complete, seven-hour recording that has since been published that I defended the Austrian drinking water supply with reference to the constitution, I never wanted to privatize it, as it was claimed in the media.

During these seven hours, I flatly refused all corrupting offers. So the whole video proved that I was not corrupt and I was not using drugs, contrary to what the media claimed. They deliberately didn't show the entire recording, and they ran a discrediting campaign for months. The point was that Straché should go, it was a coup, an assassination, not investigative journalism. As a successful, elected representative of Austrians, I stood in the way of certain influential people in Europe and Austria.

- Why wasn't the video shown before the 2017 parliamentary elections and before you came to power?

- Obviously, it happened that Tal Silberstein was arrested in August of that year, a few weeks after the recordings were made. He has long been a campaign consultant for the social democratic SPÖ, was responsible for defamatory and dirty campaigns, and is even known for overthrowing governments in Africa. At that time, the Ibiza manipulation was postponed from the background.

– When it turned out that the charges against you were overturned in the light of the entire recording, how did the media act? Were these developments as actively reported as the scandal?

- No, not at all. On the contrary. To this day, they have not cleared things up, made things right, or apologized - just some mediums. As I said, their goal was to remove me, they helped the creators of the Ibiza video, they acted in the interests of the customers. To this day, they have not traced the €600,000 Krugerrand coin that some people used to pay for the video.

That's why so many people could not own such a large amount in the last ten years in German-speaking countries. Who bought these, from which bank and when? To this day, they have not found or do not want to find the woman used as bait in the video. As Wolfgang Schäuble (former president of the German parliament - ed.) also said, the case reeks of secret service methods, this illegal action could have been organized by criminal circles. It is amazing what is possible today in Austria and Europe.

– What is the purpose of your recently published book Das Ibiza Attentat?

– For me, this was an important, personal re-evaluation of the events and my experiences. It was a turning point in my life. An Ibiza bombing. I am glad to be alive, unfortunately Jörg Haider was not so lucky. But after Haider, it would have been too suspicious if even a second FPÖ president died. It is very important to describe what really happened and why I am still standing and fighting for my beliefs, my ideas, my country, the Christian West. Even as a simple citizen. Criminals or even the so-called deep state can never take control in a democracy. Democracy itself and all political camps must be protected from such crimes.

the full article here.

Image: Strache team