Austrian Chancellor Kurz resigns over corruption charges

Austria's conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz resigned on Saturday to end a government crisis. "I would therefore like to make way in order to end the stalemate, to prevent chaos and to ensure stability," Kurz said in a statement to the media. He added that he was proposing to President Alexander Van der Bellen that Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, a career diplomat backed by Kurz's party, that he take over as chancellor.

Coalition partner the Greens said Kruz was unfit to lead the country because he has been placed under investigation on suspicion of corruption. Greens leader and Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler indicated he was satisfied, meaning Kurz had succeeded in pulling their coalition back from the brink. "I believe this is the right step for future government work," Greens leader Kogler said in a statement, adding that he had had a "very constructive" working relationship with Schallenberg.

A star among Europe's conservatives and known for his hard line on immigration, Kurz, became one of the continent's youngest leaders when he took over as chancellor in 2017 at the head of a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party. Prosecutors said on Wednesday they had placed Kurz and nine others under investigation on suspicion of breach of trust, corruption and bribery with various levels of involvement. Starting in 2016 when Kurz was seeking to take over as party leader, prosecutors suspect the conservative-led Finance Ministry paid for advertisements in a newspaper in exchange for manipulated polling and coverage favourable to Kurz.