Austria swears in new chancellor after Kurz steps aside

BERLIN – Austria got a caller chancellor connected Monday, 2 days aft erstwhile person Sebastian Kurz resigned amid corruption allegations, but the absorption of authorities argumentation was not expected to change.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen swore successful Alexander Schallenberg, the erstwhile overseas minister, arsenic chancellor. Career diplomat Michael Linhart became the country's caller overseas minister.

Schallenberg, 52, told reporters aboriginal Monday that helium would bash “everything to refill the trenches” caused by the caller authorities situation and besides “do everything successful my powerfulness to service our beauteous state of Austria.”

He besides said helium would proceed to enactment intimately with the blimpish Kurz. Both stock a hard enactment connected immigration.

Kurz, 35, announced Saturday that helium would measurement speech to defuse a governmental situation triggered by prosecutors’ announcement that helium is 1 of the targets of an probe into suspected bribery and breach of trust. Kurz’s inferior conjugation partners, the Greens, had demanded his replacement. Kurz denies immoderate wrongdoing.

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Kurz and his adjacent associates are accused of trying to unafraid his emergence to the enactment of his enactment and the state with the assistance of manipulated polls and affable media reports financed with nationalist money. Kurz became the person of his Austrian People’s Party and past chancellor successful 2017.

Although helium is stepping down arsenic chancellor, helium is keeping his relation arsenic enactment person and becoming the caput of its parliamentary group, keeping him astatine the bosom of Austrian authorities portion helium fights the corruption allegations.

Van der Bellen lauded the 2 caller leaders' acquisition successful representing Austria abroad, but besides stressed the work they person successful restoring the Austrian people's assurance successful the country's government.

“We each expect that the authorities volition spell backmost to enactment and determination things guardant together,” Van der Bellen said.

Schallenberg served arsenic the country's overseas curate since 2019, portion Linhart was Austria's ambassador to France.

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Kurz rejected allegations that helium would effort to bent connected to power, the Austrian quality bureau APA reported.

“One happening is clear: I'm nary shadiness chancellor,” Kurz said successful a statement. “I volition enactment astatine precocious velocity successful the coming days to marque definite there's an orderly transition.”

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