Dominic Schlatter, Deputy Mayor of Ybbs on the Danube, has resigned from office after he was caught embezzling around €25,000 intended for children battling cancer.
Schlatter, of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), caused a major scandal in the Austrian city after pocketing money from the Chernobyl Children campaign.
That is for children with leukaemia from the Chernobyl region who have been going on vacation to Austria since 1996 and is considered a project close to the heart of Ybbs.
According to Austrian news outlet NÖN, Schlatter admitted his actions and tried to justify them by claiming he had “private, financial and health difficulties”.
In addition, he claimed he had lost track of things due to incomplete billing.
He has reportedly already repaid around €15,000.
At the end of July he had denied everything, claiming he was the victim of a smear campaign and promised to provide complete clarification.
New evidence surfaced soon after, though, incriminating Schlatter and in his own party the pressure on him increased further.
On August 11, he resigned from all public function posts he had held.
The mayor of Ybbs, Ulrike Schachner, also of the SPÖ and who had previously backed Schlatter, said his behaviour was “as unforeseeable as it is humanly disappointing”.
She has refrained from filing a formal complaint, saying Schlatter wanted to pay back the money and had already returned some of it.
In an official August 11 press release, though, she announced that the city would “have all dealings related to former deputy mayor Dominic Schlatter thoroughly examined retroactively by an independent body”.
She added that it reserved the right to take any and all steps against Schlatter, including legal action.
It was also stressed that the aid initiative received no subsidies or financial contributions from the city and never had.
Other parties were reportedly baffled by the absence of an official complaint.
Matthias Zauner, state manager of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), claimed there was a “lack of control” over the affair. The fact that no charges have yet been filed was “a slap in the face for all volunteer citizens”, he said.
SPÖ state manager Wolfgang Zwander stressed that the events were “serious and require complete clarification – but have nothing to do with the party or the city”.
District chairman Richard Punz, of the right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ), wondered: “What is to be covered up here?
“Every average citizen would be prosecuted, but not a politician? This creates a devastating symbolic effect.”
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— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) June 30, 2025
