Austrian President Stands For Snap Parliamentary Elections In September

VIENNA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th May, 2019) Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen supported on Sunday the idea of holding snap parliamentary elections in the country in the wake of a scandal, involving the vice-chancellor, less than a week before the European Parliamentary vote.

"If possible, [the election should take place] in the beginning of September," he said, following a meeting with Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

Austria has found itself amid a large-scale political scandal ahead of the European Parliament elections scheduled for May 23-26. Earlier this week, major German media outlets Spiegel and Suddeutsche Zeitung reported, citing a video recording they obtained, that Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache allegedly discussed with "a Russian woman" the possibility of her buying media assets to influence the 2017 legislative elections.

Strache later clarified that she was a Russian-speaking Latvian citizen.

At the same time, Germany's Welt stated that the videotaped meeting was a "trap" for the politician, whose anti-establishment Freedom Party (FPO) actively called for lifting anti-Russian sanctions and normalizing relations with Moscow. Strache, who described the situation as "a political assassination," was forced to resign.

Kurtz refused to continue the government coalition with Strache's party and called for snap elections.