As the FPÖ leader announced to the parliamentary directorate on Thursday afternoon, he would be on vacation next week. Instead, the managing director of the agency “signs” (formerly ideen.schmiede) is now invited to meet on May 7th. The following day, the factions want to question, among others, ex-BVT boss Peter Gridling and trendy restaurateur Martin Ho.
Surprising rejection
Kickl’s rejection probably came as a surprise to the parliamentary groups, as they had already planned a second appearance by the FPÖ club chairman and former interior minister. The other four parliamentary parties saw his first appearance in mid-April as a “set-up game” between Kickl and his general secretary, Christian Hafenecker, who leads the FPÖ parliamentary group in the committee. The parliamentary groups are unlikely to have much control now, as the committee is already coming to an end and due to the short supply of summonses, no further penalties can be applied for. The summonses were issued on Thursday afternoon and must be picked up by the interviewees within ten days, i.e. in the case of those invited today, only after their interview date.
On Tuesday, in addition to the signs managing director, who is to be questioned about any “fiduciary contracts” with Kickl, the parliamentary groups also have Alexis Pascuttini as a person to be interviewed. The local council, which has now been excluded from the Graz FPÖ, had already announced that it wanted to answer all questions. This willingness will also be important in his questioning, because the financial scandal of the Graz Freedom Party is not really covered by the subject matter. The Ministry of Justice rejected the supply of files based on this reason, and questions about this were not allowed in the committee itself. However, a respondent is allowed to answer voluntarily.
Johann Gudenus or Florian Stermann?
It is still a little uncertain who will actually receive their cargo on Wednesday. The NEOS originally wanted to invite the former Viennese FPÖ leader Johann Gudenus and question him about relations with Russia. However, since it became apparent that he would probably not have kept the appointment, the Pinks now want to question the former Secretary General of the Austrian-Russian Friendship Society, Florian Stermann. This should probably serve as a harbinger for a Russia-U committee after the National Council election: “We want to question him about the systematic information highway between Jan Marsalek and FP politician Gudenus. Files show that Stermann passed top secret information to Gudenus on behalf of Jan Marsalek requested and forwarded it,” said Neos faction leader Yannick Shetty.
My musical instrument Martin Ho geladen
At the request of the FPÖ, the Viennese restaurateur Martin Ho has also been invited for Wednesday – but it is questionable to what extent he will be able to testify as a witness on the subject of the investigation if he comes. Also invited are the former director of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Combating Terrorism, Peter Gridling, as well as the long-time security chief of ex-FPÖ chairman Heinz Christian Strache.
