These days, Austria is experiencing political media déjà vu.
After his first-instance conviction, Sebastian Kurz started a round of interviews like he did at the height of his chancellorship.
First in the high-circulation “Kronen Zeitung”, later in other newspapers and on television, including “ZiB2”, the most important ORF news program.
Kurz makes headlines and sets spins.
He hasn't been an active politician for more than two years.
But he behaves as before: he sends his messages offensively.
He suggests, for example, that the judge might have sentenced him to a suspended sentence of eight months in prison for party political reasons.
“Everyone can have their opinion,” says Kurz on ORF.
His confidante and ex-minister Elisabeth Köstinger had already explained in front of the cameras: "It remains to be seen to what extent the judge made a political decision."
In terms of content, Kurz says the same thing in variations: his first-instance conviction for making false statements before the parliamentary investigative committee was wrong.
He is being treated unfairly, first in the investigative committee, now in court.
The calculation: Such unsubstantiated whispers are intended to torpedo the verdict and delegitimize the judge.
Donald Trump is using similar methods to attack law enforcement authorities in the USA.
However, Kurz and his people already have their own experience of portraying judicial investigations as politically tinged.
As early as 2020, the conservative and party friends had suggested that the economic and corruption prosecutor's office had been infiltrated by social democrats - without success.
Kurz is certainly entitled to make the media offensive aggressive.
But his behavior shows once again that he has no consideration whatsoever - not even for party friends.
The behavior of the young former chancellor does not bode well for his People's Party and its Chancellor Karl Nehammer.
Parliamentary elections are coming up in the fall and the starting position for the Chancellor's party is miserable.
The revelations about the Kurz era are one reason for the conservatives' downward spiral in recent years.
In surveys, the Christian Socialists are currently languishing in third place behind the SPÖ and FPÖ.
Kurz's attacks on the judiciary are not bringing back voters
Kurz's strident self-defense, which could last for the next few months due to the appeal process, is unlikely to increase the conservatives' values; on the contrary: every appearance by Kurz means new targets for political competition.
Attacks on the judiciary will keep die-hard fans in line, but won't bring back disappointed voters.
“If Sebastian Kurz is still a political factor at all, then at most it will be as a disruptive factor for the ÖVP, which is fighting for its remaining prestige,” the “Kronen Zeitung” states dryly.
The days when Kurz was the star of his party are long gone.
Now it's more like a log there.
Given this situation, can Nehammer even manage to catch up by election day?
Probably yes, after all there is still half a year until the polls.
Nehammer may not be as smart as Kurz, but he is clearly trying to bring the unpopular coalition with the Greens to a decent end: with substantive policy.
Nehammer's big plus: He is not entangled in his predecessor's affairs.
But as long as the Chancellor shys away from noticeably distancing himself from Kurz, he has a big problem.
Social media moment of the week:
German entertainers have recently been paying more attention to political developments in Austria.
After the satirist Jan Böhmermann, who dedicated an issue of his “ZDF Magazin Royale” to the FPÖ, Danger Dan has now followed suit.
The musician included people from the right-wing fringe in the lyrics of his controversial song "That's all covered by artistic freedom" - and re-recorded the piece with four string players on the roof of the Vienna Volkstheater.
Stories we recommend to you today:
Social democracy: Why Andreas Babler can't get his party under control
Podcast “Inside Austria”: That’s why the Greens are having such a hard time governing
Femicides in Vienna: Five dead women and girls in one day
Bavarian-Austrian border towns: Simbach demonstrates against right-wing extremism - with help from Braunau
Controversial plagiarism hunter: The Revenge of Stefan Weber
Have a good week!
Warm greetings from Vienna
Yours, Oliver Das Gupta, author for SPIEGEL and STANDARD
And once again a note on our own behalf: You can order this briefing as a newsletter in your email inbox here.