Charles Tannock says the latest scandal in Austria shows the vast extent of Russian manipulation of European politics. But it also lays bare the hypocrisy and opportunism of the major far-right parties across Europe. While banging the drum of national sovereignty against the EU, they quietly sell their countries’ sovereignty to the Kremlin.

Days ahead of the European parliamentary elections, Austria’s government is in a tailspin. The author says, “every European democrat of the left, right, and center must now ask is whether the true scope and scale of the political, moral, and material corruption of Europe’s far-right parties has been exposed in time.” What implications this scandal has for the European elections remain to be seen.

However, Austrians and their allies in Europe can no longer trust the current government. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has no choice but to hold a snap election, following the resignation of his deputy. Centrist parties on the left and right across Europe hope the fallout from the scandal will be felt beyond Austria in this week’s elections, in which populist, nationalist and far-right parties have been forecast to make big inroads into the European Parliament.

Heinz-Christian Strache, the disgraced vice chancellor and leader of Austria’s far-right Freedom party (FPÖ) had vowed to “drain the swamp,” while eager to embrace corruption. He resorted to populist rhetoric to portray politics as a battle by ordinary decent people against a venal elite. His FPÖ, founded by former Nazis after the end of World War II, is a key member of the alliance of European nationalist parties led by Matteo Salvini of Italy’s far-right League party.

Austria has traditionally seen itself as a “bridge builder” between the East and the West and has a history of neutrality and relatively warm ties with Moscow. Since Strache became the junior partner of the centre-right Austrian People’s Partyt under Sebastian Kurz, he took his pro-Russian stance to the extremes, signing a formal coalition agreement with Putin’s United Russia party.

In February 2018, after the FPÖ took over Austria’s interior and defence ministries, it ordered a police raid on the security agencies, which have a history of keeping tabs on neo-Nazi groups and pro-Russian organisatons. Since then, EU member states’ intelligence agencies had reportedly restricted the amount of intelligence they shared with Austria, fearing it would soon be passed on to the Kremlin.

The author points out “Russia’s attempts to subvert the EU and individual European governments.” Apart from the FPÖ, other far-right anti-immigration parties are beholden to the Kremlin as well. Italy’s right-wing League also signed a similar cooperation agreement with United Russia, and has loudly argued against the sanctions on Moscow which the EU and the US imposed in response to Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Marine Le Pen’s National Front in France, now rebranded as Rassemblement National, received a loan of 9 million euros from a Russian bank in 2014. Viktor Orban, Hungary’s autocratic prime minister, who has positioned himself as a leading figure of the European far right, also has strong ties to Russia. Orban openly admires Putin’s “strongman” style of politics. Following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, he broke with the rest of the EU and hosted Putin in Budapest in 2015.

In Britain, investigators are looking into the role that Russian money may have played in promoting the pro-Brexit campaign. The author fears that Russian influence in the UK “could grow markedly after Brexit.” The “great irony” now is that the Tory-led government, which has been among Europe’s most forceful in confronting Russian aggression and efforts to divide Europe, “is facing additional challenges post-Brexit.” The UK has never been so divided “since the Corn Law debates almost 200 years ago.”

The author hopes that the crisis in Austria is a “wake-up call for Europe’s leaders and citizens alike.” Not only are populists corrupt, they preach water while drinking wine. This week, Europe’s voters “will have the opportunity to demonstrate that they have seen through this plot against their countries and the EU, and to turn back the populist fifth column.” Mainstream politicians facing threats from a growing far right should learn from Austria: pandering to them does not work.