Austria’s Permanent Representative to the European Union, Thomas Oberreiter, is leaving his post in Brussels early. / Picture: © Flickr / Dimitar Nikolov / [CC BY-SA 2.0(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/)]

Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger (Neos) confirmed Oberreiter’s resignation, which he had submitted for personal reasons. According to a government spokesperson speaking to the news portal POLITICO, the foreign minister learned of the allegations, whereupon Oberreiter submitted his resignation, and it was accepted. However, the official statement explicitly clarified that the acceptance of the resignation request should not be interpreted as confirmation of the allegations. Oberreiter is expected to work at the Foreign Ministry’s headquarters in Vienna in the future, as reported by DerStandard. Further details were not disclosed, citing “data and privacy protection.”

The “Krone” newspaper broke the story and reported on a blog that has since been deleted. The entries, which are in the possession of “Der Standard,” among others, are said to be contemptuous, sexist, and degrading toward women. They consist of erotic fantasies written from a woman’s perspective.

What is particularly explosive is that the location data of some blog posts can be traced back to the Foreign Ministry. Time stamps also indicate that the entries were written during regular working hours. However, there is no clear forensic evidence of authorship.

Political dimension and career

Rumors about the blog and alleged intimate recordings had been circulating for months, as reported by DerStandard. They were made public by the platform Fass ohne Boden, which is run by Alexander Surowiec, a former communications advisor to the FPÖ. FPÖ member of parliament Susanne Fürst called for a “full investigation” and spoke out in favor of a parliamentary inquiry.

Thomas Oberreiter has been in the diplomatic service for over 30 years and is considered to have excellent connections within the ÖVP. Among other things, he was chief of staff to Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP). His position as “EU ambassador” is one of Austria’s most important diplomatic functions and plays a decisive role in coordinating the federal government’s European policy.

The incident has not yet resulted in any criminal consequences, but it is still unclear whether disciplinary action will be taken. According to the Foreign Ministry, the resignation serves to avert possible damage to the Republic’s reputation and minimizes the security risk of blackmail.