Austria: Transitional government is ready to provide stability - Kurz

W/S Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Vienna
W/S Kurz
SOT, Sebastian Kurz, Austrian Chancellor (German): "The transitional government took up their work yesterday with the goal and task of providing stability and preparing everything so that the elections in September run smuttily. It is an important concern for all of us on this path to do this in a well-coordinated manner with the Federal President, but of course also in dialogue with the representatives of the party in parliament."
SOT, Sebastian Kurz, Austrian Chancellor (German): "We have made sure that the Interior and Justice departments have all the necessary resources at their disposal in order to get a full clarification. This includes all the rumors and also relevant, potentially criminal, acts that were revealed through the video. This also includes the emergence of the video and the question of who commissioned and financed it. Beyond that, as contract awards were discussed in the video, we will also create a task force in BMVIT, in the infrastructure ministry to control the allocations of the last year and a half."
M/S Journalist *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Sebastian Kurz, Austrian Chancellor (German): "In response to the first question, I think I'm not saying anything new when I inform you that on Monday a motion of no-confidence will be brought to vote upon. The Federal President requested that I create a transitional government - I did that within 24 hours. Yesterday the inauguration took place, the first council of ministers took place, this government is ready to allow the transitional phase to take place in an orderly manner, and to provide stability in Austria and the capacity to act on a European and international level. Whether the parliament decides to back that or not, that's not my decision but a decision of the parliament that will be made on Monday."
M/S Journalist *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Sebastian Kurz, Austrian Chancellor: "I think that the view in some other European countries is sometimes a different one than the view here in Austria. What many people in other countries do not know is that it was necessary to build a coalition after the last election because my party was not able to have an absolute majority in the Parliament. And the second point is, there was no other party which was ready to form a coalition with us. What most people do not know is that the Social Democrats in these days also tried to form a coalition with the Freedom Party. Where my party would have been not included."
W/S Kurz leaving
SCRIPT
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that the transitional government is ready to act to bring stability to the country, speaking during a press conference in Vienna on Thursday.
The statement was made in the wake of a video scandal involving his former Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache that resulted in his resignation, along with that of other Freedom Party (FPO) ministers.
"Yesterday the inauguration took place, the first council of ministers took place, this government is ready to allow the transitional phase to take place in an orderly manner, and to provide stability in Austria and the capacity to act on a European and international level. Whether the parliament decides to back that or not, that's not my decision but a decision of the parliament that will be made on Monday," stressed Kurz.
Sebastian Kurz will face a no-confidence vote on Monday, which was initiated by the opposition.
Last week two German publications posted a several-hours long secretly-recorded video on their websites, in which Strache, his parliamentary leader, Johann Gudenus, and an unidentified woman claiming to be the niece of a Russian oligarch discuss taking control of the country's largest-circulation tabloid in order to help the FPO in future elections. The purported deal was allegedly made in exchange for public contracts.
MANDATORY CREDIT: BUNDESKANZLEREI ÖSTERREICH