The video showed Strache meeting the woman in 2017, shortly
before the election that brought him into government.
It began in May when German media outlets
published a video involving Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache- then leader of the FPÖ.
It began in May when German media outlets
published a video involving Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache- then leader of the Freedom Party.
Mr Strache resigned the next day and Mr Kurz-
the head of the centre-right People's Party(ÖVP)- said new elections would have to be held.
In the footage, Strache discussed rules on party financing and how to work around them,
although he also insisted on having to act legally.
The“Ibizagate” scandal forced Mr Strache to step down and led Mr Kurz to end the
coalition between his centre-right People's Party(ÖVP) and the FPÖ.
It was dumb,
it was irresponsible and it was a mistake," Mr Strache told a news conference,
fighting back tears as he asked his wife and others to forgive him.
He said he would be replaced as party leader by Transport Minister Norbert Hofer, his deputy,
who narrowly lost a 2016 presidential election and is more popular than Strache.
As Strache announced around midday that he was stepping down, a crowd of
thousands with left-wing placards and banners gathered on the square outside Kurz's office, chanting“Snap elections now!”!
It was dumb, it was irresponsible and it was a mistake," Strache told a news conference,
fighting back tears as he asked his wife and others to forgive him.
Strache, whose party has a cooperation agreement with Russia's
ruling United Russia party, described the sting as a“targeted political assassination” and said it never led to any money changing hands.
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.