All government ministers of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPOe) expressed their willingness to step down from their posts in the aftermath of the scandal involving country's Vice Chancellor and FPOe Chairman Heinz-Christian Strache who resigned on Saturday, Agence France-Presse reported on Monday, citing an unnamed party official.
Earlier, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz acknowledged that he will seek snap elections as soon as possible following Strache's resignation. The announcement was confirmed on Sunday by President Alexander Van der Bellen who said that the snap elections will be held in September, without specifying the date.
Strache stepped down from the post of vice chancellor shortly following the release of the video filmed in 2017 in which he promises government contracts to a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch with close ties to President Vladimir Putin. In exchange, she was supposed to help his party in the election campaign by gaining control of the Kronen Zeitung, Austria's most popular tabloid. Following the resignation, Strache described the incident as a "targeted political assassination."
