On Thursday, the Ibiza parliamentary committee of inquiry once again devoted itself to the “Ballhausplatz project”, the unofficial election campaign strategy of the ÖVP in 2017. The first questioned was the entrepreneur Gabriela Spiegelfeld, who had organized events with potential supporters of the now Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz during the 2017 election campaign. She resisted being called a fundraiser.
Image: APA
“It was and is always a pleasure for me to bring people from the most diverse areas together”, Spiegelfeld presented in her opening statement as a non-partisan networker who is concerned with “good policy for Austria as a business location”. Since 2016 she has been organizing roundtables on various topics, including for the former Hofburg candidate lrmgard Griss.
Kurz also approached her to continue these “discussion rounds” and to support him – which Spiegelfeld said he did. “The donation was completely irrelevant,” she said, and: “If someone asked me whether they could donate, I referred them to the homepage or the department responsible for donations.” In the election year 2017, the ÖVP received EUR 4.4 million in donations (almost EUR 3 million of which went to the federal party), plus EUR 424,000 through sponsorship.
Spiegelfeld, who runs a PR agency, emphasized her purely private support for Kurz. She denied that she had invited to meetings on a smaller scale with Novomatic boss Harald Neumann. Admittedly she “noticed Neumann again and again”, but “I don't even know whether at an event I organized”. She was not aware of a “Ballhausplatz project” at the time. Spiegelfeld has also suggested people, for example from her women's network, for posts, as she said. “Some have become, some have not.”
SPÖ parliamentary group leader Jan Krainer wanted to know whether she met Kurz on Mallorca. “No, of course not – an unbelievable insinuation. He wasn't with me, neither did he stay with me, nor was he with me over coffee.” In private she had met him again and again, for example she had repeatedly organized larger dinners, but in this context no presents had ever been offered.
Following Spiegelfeld's questioning, Daniel Varro, a cabinet employee of Finance Minister Gernot Blümel (ÖVP), will answer questions from MPs. The mandataries expect information about alleged agreements with possible donors in this area from the expert in foundation law. Lisa Wieser, a close colleague of Chancellor Kurz, has been invited as the last person to provide information.
