The Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) has filed a civil suit for defamation against Manfred Weber, President of the European People’s Party (EPP).
That came after Weber publicly alleged the FPÖ – a member of the newly formed Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament – was “financed out of Russia”. The party has already won two similar cases in Austria.
On June 12, Weber appeared on the talk show “Markus Lanz” on German state television to discuss the results of the European Parliament elections. When asked whether the FPÖ could be a partner to help get Ursula von der Leyen re-elected as President of the European Commission, a smiling Weber responded: “Of course not the FPÖ because it is financed out of Russia and clearly says ‘we need to let Ukraine fall.’”
He similarly excluded Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch hard-right Party for Freedom, as a potential partner due to what he claimed was Wilders’ “Islamophobia”.
In the latest suit, filed with the Vienna Commercial Court in July and a copy of which was obtained by Brussels Signal, the FPÖ stated it was “not financed out of or by Russia”.
It claimed Weber’s insinuations amounted to defamation as he purported that the party did not base its political actions on its convictions and the interests of its voters but on Russian payments. The FPÖ demanded Weber retract his statement publicly on the German TV show and desist from making similar claims.
“We are confident that Mr Weber will have to retract his scandalous accusations against the FPÖ”, said Christian Hafenecker, Secretary General of the party. The regional Austrian Freedom Party of Styria posted on X that “EU clown Manfred Weber” will have to revoke his statements.
Auch EU-Clown @ManfredWeber wird seine Aussagen widerrufen müssen.https://t.co/jPqRSWwe4i
— ⚪🟢 FPÖ Steiermark 🇦🇹 (@FPOE_Steiermark) July 19, 2024
Weber did not reply to a request for comment.
The FPÖ has already won two similar cases against Austrian political rivals. In 2023, the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) agreed in court to pay €2.800 in indemnities to the FPÖ over claims it had been paid by Russia to submit motions to the Austrian Parliament to lift sanctions on the country.
In March 2024, the Austrian Supreme Court of Justice ruled that the Conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) must publicly retract similar allegations and stop claiming that the FPÖ had accepted money from Russia for parliamentary motions or money from Moscow in general.
