Austria bows to protests, calls election as vice-chancellor quits

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has called fresh elections after the country's far-right vice-chancellor resigned over a secretly filmed video from 2017 that has rocked the coalition government.

Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache, leader of the far-right, anti-immigrant Freedom Party, or FPO, stepped down after the video was published by two German newspapers.

The video allegedly showed Strache offering lucrative public contracts to a woman, posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch, who said she was interested in investing large amounts of money in an Austrian newspaper.

Strache has described the sting as a "targeted political assassination" that never led to any money changing hands, insisting the only crime that took place was illegally videotaping a private dinner party.

Kurz's center-right People's Party, known as the OVP, has been in government with Strache's FPO, the smaller partner in the coalition, since 2017. The snap elections are expected to be held in September.

The chancellor told gathered media that "enough is enough" after the latest FPO embarrassment.

"I said I would always do what is right and what is necessary," he said, while declaring that he had withdrawn the OVP from the government. "I promised voters I would remain true to myself, no matter what."

Kurz went on to describe a string of anti-Semitic scandals committed by FPO members, calling them "hard to swallow". He accused the FPO of damaging the good work he had tried to do for the country.

"This is not what our country needs. I am not in politics to hold this office ... but to work for our beautiful country," Kurz said.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen later confirmed that there would be a new election, but a date has not yet been determined. Van der Bellen condemned the "bold disrespect to the citizens of our country". "This is not Austria," he added.

Thousands of people had protested outside the chancellery in Vienna all day, calling for a new election.

In the video footage, Strache is seen to be seen speaking to a woman, who said her uncle wants to buy a controlling interest in Austria's largest tabloid, the Kronen Zeitung. It's suggested the newspaper could then be used to give the FPO favorable coverage.

Later in the video, Strache calls journalists "the biggest whores on the planet." FPO parliamentary group leader Johann Gudenus is also in the video.

Strache excused his behavior by calling it a "drunken story" where he was trying to act "macho", adding that nothing had come of the meeting.

The FPO was founded in 1956 by former Nazis, according to Deutsche Welle. It said since the late 1990s, however, the party has revamped itself to be more mainstream.

The announcement of snap elections comes just days before populists seek to make major gains in European Parliament elections, which begin on Thursday.