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ALEXANDER SCHALLENBERG was sworn in as Austrian chancellor today after Sebastian Kurz was forced to resign over corruption allegations.
Mr Schallenberg, who until now served as Mr Kurz’s foreign minister, was appointed by President Alexander Van der Bellen at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna.
Mr Kurz, who is accused of bribery, corruption and breach of trust, announced on Saturday that he was stepping down.
It is alleged that he and his supporters manipulated polls and used public money to fund favourable media reports in order to secure his rise to the leadership of the Austrian People’s Party.
He denies the charges, but was threatened with a vote of no confidence in parliament if he refused to step down from his post, which he had held since 2017.
Mr Kurz remains People’s Party chairman and will continue to lead its parliamentary group.
Police raided his chancellery last week and he has been accused of perjuring himself before a parliamentary inquiry.
It is the second time in three years that Mr Kurz has been forced to resign.
He stepped down in 2019 after losing a vote of no confidence triggered by a corruption probe into his then coalition partner, the far-right Freedom Party.
