Summer 2017, Ibiza

In 2017 the leader of the Freedom Party (FPÖ) walked into a trap: the future vice-chancellor, Heinz-Christian Strache, openly discussed plans for corruption and an expansion of power—and was secretly caught on film. The location was a finca on Ibiza. The person he was talking to was not a rich Russian but an actress. Strache’s remarks on party funding, on awarding state contracts, and on limiting press freedom were made public almost two years later. ‘Ibiza’ became synonymous with corruption. In the interim government that followed, Brigitte Bierlein became the first woman in Austria to hold the post of federal chancellor.