Alexander Schallenberg is the new Austrian chancellor: he was sworn in on Monday and took over from Sebastian Kurz, the center-right ÖVP leader, who Released on Saturday From his position as prime minister because of a corruption investigation he was involved in. Schallenberg was thus far Secretary of State, and it was Kurtz himself who made his name as a potential new chancellor.

Schallenberg is 54 years old and is a career diplomat who recently entered politics. He is the son of a former ambassador who was born in Bern, Switzerland, but grew up between India, Spain and France after his father’s diplomatic posts. He also became a diplomat, in 1997, then foreign minister, in June 2019, appointed by Kurz himself (who before he became a foreign minister adviser).

However, Kurz, to whom Schallenberg is very close, would continue to play an important role in Austrian politics. The leader of the ÖVP group will remain in the Austrian parliament and, according to the opposition, will continue to strongly influence government decisions, becoming a kind of “shadow adviser” to Schallenberg.

Kurz was in his second term as chancellor, and a few days ago it became known that he was under investigation with nine other people on suspicion of illegally using some money from the Ministry of Finance between 2016 and 2018 to manipulate opinion polls in office for and for his party. Curtis’ first term began in December 2017 and ended in May 2019; The second started in January 2020.

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