The former SPÖ Chancellor Christian Kern confirmed in the Ibiza Committee of Inquiry that his party had also been offered explosive material about the then FPÖ boss Heinz-Christian Strache by the later Ibiza lawyer. However, one did not want to have anything to do with it, since it was apparently a difficult and “half silly” matter, he said during his questioning. In a letter they have therefore “expressed disinterest in the matter”.
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The former Federal Chancellor – like other people close to the SPÖ – was invited to the investigative committee by the ÖVP. Kern confirmed statements that the makers of the Ibiza video approached the advertiser Nikolaus Pelinka, who in turn informed Kern and Thomas Drozda about the offer. Two weeks later, after an examination by party attorney Drozda, Kern asked to reject the offer, because: “We did not want to have anything to do with the matter.”
He was once questioned by SoKo Tape. The officers treated him “politely and courteously”. It is noteworthy, however, that his interrogation protocol reached the relevant media immediately afterwards. In general, he has the impression that information from the Ministry of the Interior is being used to “consciously make politics”. Apparently certain “political groups” believe that the Ministry of the Interior is one of their “front-line organizations”.
ÖVP MP Christian Stocker wanted to know why Kern had not released the party attorney from his secrecy. It would be interesting what material was presented to this. “If you try to construct an SPÖ story out of it, you are on the wrong track,” said Kern. At that time there was no knowledge of the material “as we have it today,” said Kern. They only had “snippets of information” at their disposal.
The “famous bet” with Strache for a bottle of wine, who would be party chairman for longer, did not have the knowledge of the video as a background, explained Kern. At that time he wanted to prevent rumors that he would like to leave the private sector.
Before the survey ended after an hour and a half, FPÖ parliamentary group leader Christian Hafenecker brought up a non-public protocol from the German Wirecard investigative committee. There the Ibiza detective said that there were other videos by Austrian politicians. It is about back rooms in clubs and drug use. Hafenecker wanted to know whether he, Kern, had heard of such rumors. Kern does not want to document any rumors, at least he has no perceptions about them.
In connection with the shredder affair, Kern was also asked how the documents and appointments from his term of office were handled after he left the Federal Chancellery. The ex-chancellor referred to the obligation to transfer relevant files to the state archive, which also happened under the supervision of officials. However, there was no reason for the “shredding” of data carriers under a false name, as happened at the end of the first term of office of Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP).
The questioning of the former spokesman for ex-Federal Chancellor Werner Faymann (SPÖ), Thomas Landgraf, had uncovered little that was illuminating. Even in his opening statement, he was at a loss about his charge. He had “little to no awareness of the evidence” and did not know what he could help clarify. After about an hour, the survey was over.
The reason for the summons by the ÖVP was that he had been questioned as a witness in an ancillary proceedings relating to the Ibiza video. However, the preliminary investigation was discontinued without any result. The video was not offered to him himself, and he only found out about its existence on the day it was published, said Landgraf.
Then he was told that the video had been offered to the SPÖ before it was published. He reported this at a lunch at which he was “overheard” by SoKo officials. “That was a thoroughly joking conversation,” said Landgraf. Landgraf reported that he only “picked up” the alleged purchase price of three million euros, which he mentioned at the time. The fact that a colleague bet on a new election before the Ibiza video appeared was explained to him by allegedly good odds.
