Blog Affair in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: FPÖ Demands Clarification

The FPÖ sees the affair surrounding obscene blog posts by an Austrian ambassador as an "incredible scandal" and a "state affair." For Secretary General Michael Schnedlitz, many questions remain open, including those about any existing security gaps. On Tuesday, he accused the governing parties of wanting to "sweep the security scandal under the rug." Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced its intention to re-examine the case.

FPÖ Detects "State Affair" and Numerous Open Questions

Schnedlitz identifies it as a "state affair," as it is "not a simple personnel matter but one of the highest officials of the Republic of Austria," who has access to sensitive information. The ambassador's recent resignation is "not the end of a scandal but the forced beginning of its resolution." The FPÖ Secretary General sees "a lot of open questions, both of a service law and criminal nature" and expects the authorities to take action, as it concerns "the security of Austria." Instead, the political leaders are met with a "wall of silence." Therefore, a whistleblower platform has been set up at www.bmeia-watch.at, where officials can turn to.

One of the questions is, "who knew what and when and did not act," said Schnedlitz, referring to the reporting obligation of officials. The case is not about private matters. It is alleged that the ambassador was spied on, Schnedlitz pointed to corresponding media reports. Furthermore, he allegedly wrote the blog with "violent fantasies" at least partially during working hours using the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' infrastructure, said Schnedlitz: "In short: the taxpayer paid for it." More importantly, however, is the question of whether a security gap still exists, emphasized the FPÖ representative, who quickly demands appropriate investigations. It must also be investigated whether the case is in any way related to the cyberattack on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' IT systems at the turn of the year 2019/20.

Meinl-Reisinger Has Case Investigated

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger (NEOS) announced a "comprehensive review of IT security and the issues raised." She entrusted her security policy advisor Thomas Starlinger with leading the investigation. IT security is given top priority, according to the ministry. The cyberattack of 2019/2020 has already been analyzed and addressed once. Subsequently, the IT security concept was adapted to the threat situation. Currently, there are "no indications of a current threat."

The affair became known through a report by the news site "Fass ohne Boden." It reported on blog entries by the person, written from the perspective of a woman named "Caro." These are consistently explicit depictions of sexual assaults and rapes. The woman repeatedly describes how she and other women are at the mercy of men. Last week, the ambassador finally requested his dismissal for personal reasons, which was accepted by Meinl-Reisinger.

FPÖ Criticizes Crisis Management of Foreign Minister

The Freedom Party mainly criticized Meinl-Reisinger's crisis management, which was characterized by a lack of transparency. According to Secretary General Christian Hafenecker, the reason the Foreign Minister is "so quiet" is that she is "nothing more than a crypto-ÖVP member" and knows some of the people involved. After all, before her career with the Pink Party, Meinl-Reisinger was "long in the internal machinery" of the ÖVP in various roles.

Hafenecker once again identified a "deep state" of the ÖVP. They have their networks in the various ministries. "The ÖVP has been in significant responsibility in this republic for far too long, and when someone governs for so long, it is precisely these networks and cliques that lack any ethics and morals," said Hafenecker. This is not an isolated case, but a system that the ÖVP has cobbled together.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.