Austrian government collapses after far right leader caught in video sting

VIENNA - Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz called on Saturday for a snap election, pulling the plug on his coalition with the far right after its leader was caught on video discussing state contracts with a woman posing as a Russian oligarch's niece.

The far-right Freedom Party's Heinz-Christian Strache resigned as vice chancellor and party leader after the video was released by two German news organizations. He acknowledged that the video was "catastrophic" but denied breaking the law.

Kurz, a conservative who formed a coalition with the Freedom Party a year and a half ago, said the apparent video sting, in which Strache discusses contracts in return for financial or political favors, was the last straw in the relationship.

"Enough is enough," Kurz said in a statement to the media, listing various lesser scandals that had previously strained their relations.

The downfall of the Austrian coalition comes just a week before elections to the European Parliament and is a blow to one of the most successful of the anti-immigrant, nationalist parties that have surged across the continent in recent years. The Freedom Party is a major part of a new nationalist grouping that aims to score record gains in the European vote.

Kurz said he was proposing to President Alexander Van der Bellen that a snap election be held as soon as possible. Van der Bellen was due to speak later on Saturday.

Reuters