Hapsburg Group

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Hapsburg Group ( Eng . : Habsburg Group) is a name given by the convicted former US campaign leader of Donald Trump , Paul Manafort , for a group of people who are said to have been in the paid service of the pro-Russian Yanukovych regime , which was overthrown in 2014 . According to his own statements, a total of 60 million US dollars should have been paid to Paul Manafort in this context .

Manafort abandonment

Manafort's task was to make the pro-Russian government of Viktor Yanukovych, which came to power in 2010, socially acceptable in the West. Manafort worked successfully to give Viktor Yanukovych a new positive political image. The manipulation in the parliamentary elections of 2012 and the politically motivated imprisonment of Tymoshenko were in blatant contradiction to this view. Accordingly, Manafort tried to blacken Tymoshenko in public and to prevent an American congressional resolution demanding her release .

The following were named as members of this group:

Paul Manafort admitted in the course of an investigation by the US Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller that there was a criminal construct of lobbying activities, accompanied by money laundering and tax fraud, in the interests of the former Ukrainian government under the pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych . In an out-of-court agreement ( plea agreement ) with the special prosecutor, Manafort admitted that in the years 2012/13 payments of more than two million euros (2.4 million US dollars) to the Hapsburg Group via offshore accounts »To have arranged. In order to circumvent European tax laws, the contract with the “Habsburg Group” wrongly stated that its activities would only take place outside of Europe. In reality, Gusenbauer, Prodi and Kwasniewski took part in various conferences in Europe to talk about Ukraine. They kept hidden from the public that they were paid by Manafort and ultimately by the Yanukovych government . Alan Friedman , a former British journalist, helped Paul Manafort organize the lobbying campaign .

The named members of the group

Research by journalists did not lead to Alfred Gusenbauer, Romano Prodi or Aleksander Kwaśniewski admitting Paul Manafort's allegations with regard to the Habsburg Group and its activities. Alfred Gusenbauer, Romano Prodi and Aleksander Kwasniewski attended conferences and published newspaper comments in which they pleaded for closer relations between Ukraine and the West. This was not an uncommon request and was probably in line with their beliefs anyway. But with their assessment at one of these conferences that the 2012 elections represented “tremendous progress”, while an OSCE observer mission spoke of a regression, they contributed to the whitewashing of the Yanukovych regime. Above all, however, the members of the "Habsburg Group" have to put up with the accusation that they presented themselves to the public as independent elder statesmen, while in reality they were in pay of Kiev .

Aleksander Kwaśniewski

In June 2012, the former Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski was commissioned by the then President of the European Parliament , Martin Schulz , to lead a monitoring mission in Ukraine together with a British politician. He visited Ukraine 27 times before the popular uprising against the Yanukovych government broke out in 2014 (see: Euromaidan ). Aleksander Kwaśniewski's task was to review the legally questionable legal proceedings against the imprisoned Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko . Many Western politicians called for his release at the time. However, according to the American court files in the Paul Manafort case, Aleksander Kwaśniewski allegedly took money from the Ukrainian government, which was responsible for the detention of Yulia Tymoshenko.

Aleksander Kwaśniewski denied in June 2018 to Politico magazine that he had ever worked for Manafort.

Alfred Gusenbauer

According to Manafort, Alfred Gusenbauer is said to be the head of the Hapsburg Group . In June, however, he denied the allegation of lobbying and the total of two million euros to the newspaper Der Standard . He was only paid for attending conferences and these funds were also taxed. He was committed to an association agreement between the EU and Ukraine, including in the USA. His activities were paid for by an American or English company, and he cannot remember any amount. He met Manafort twice for coffee, once in the USA and once in Europe. However, he did not have any business relations with him and he was not aware that lobbying could be behind the contract.

According to the US judicial files, however, Paul Manafort is said to have arranged several meetings of the former European chancellor in Washington, including the chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the House of Representatives and a senior official in the State Department responsible for Ukraine. According to American law, the former chancellor should have registered as a lobbyist for a foreign power for these activities. Instead, Gusenbauer relied on secrecy: according to an American document, he is said to have consented to proceed discreetly and to have described his work as "underground commentary" .

In point 31 of the indictment of the American special investigator Robert Mueller against Paul Manafort, a foreign politician A is named as the head of the Hapsburg Group . According to Paul Mueller, foreign politician A is said to be a former European chancellor . Only in Germany and Austria are the heads of government referred to as chancellors . When asked by Romano Prodi, he confirmed that there had been a group led by Alfred Gusenbauer, but he did not know anything about a "Hapsburg Group".

US lobbying firm Mercury Public Affairs LLC has submitted documents to the US Department of Justice that indicate that Alfred Gusenbauer met Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Republican MPs Tom Marino and Robert Aderholt in Washington in June 2013. Romano Prodi already had similar meetings in March 2013. Alfred Gusenbauer and Romano Prodi were accompanied by Mercury employees at all meetings. Romano Prodi, Aleksander Kwaśniewski and Alfred Gusenbauer were also together on the advisory board of the Kazakh autocrat Nursultan Nazarbayev .

Mercury Public Affairs did lobbying for the Belgian organization European Center for a Modern Ukraine (ECMU). ECMU is said to have been close to Yanukovych's Party of Regions . According to a report from Manafort's lobbying firm DMP International LLC, the ECMU was pursuing the same goals as the then Ukrainian ruling party.

Alfred Gusenbauer has also been advising the Novomatic gaming group for several years .

Romano Prodi

Romano Prodi should z. B. have advertised Ukraine under Viktor Yanukovych through newspaper articles.

Prodi himself says that at that time (2012/2013) there was a team lecturing across Europe on EU-Ukraine relations. He has given lectures with other personalities in many European cities, in Paris, Vienna, etc. His positions on this issue are clear, he has written an article for the New York Times and for Christian Science Monitor, and he has always advocated bringing Ukraine and the European Union closer together. There were conferences that he was paid to attend, but all of this was transparent.

The fourth man

Who is the fourth member of the group cannot be said with certainty because of the uncertain indications of the team around Special Prosecutor Mueller in the available files, possibly because of foreign policy considerations. The unknown top politician is said to have acted for Ukraine on May 16, 2013 in Washington when he accompanied the Prime Minister of his country to a meeting with President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. In the White House's public calendar, there is only one high-ranking visit on that day. That of the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan . At this meeting Erdogan was accompanied by the head of the intelligence service and Ahmet Davutoğlu , the then foreign minister and later prime minister of Turkey.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See: US v. Manafort, 17-cr-201, US District Court, District of Columbia (Washington); and 18-cr-83, US District Court, Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria).
  2. ↑ He was also Donald Trump's advisor for over 20 years ( “Russiagate, politici europei pagati da Manafort”. Prodi: “Non l'ho mai incontrato” , website: corriere.it of February 24, 2018).
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h Andreas Rüesch: How top European politicians allowed themselves to be corrupted - the mysterious “Habsburg Group” and its lobbying for the Ukraine , Neue Zürcher Zeitung of September 17, 2018.
  4. ↑ a b c d e Meret Baumann: The trail leads to Gusenbauer , Neue Zürcher Zeitung from February 25, 2018.
  5. ^ A b Andrew M. Harris, David Voreacos: Manafort Led Ex-Chancellor to Vow Discretion for a Fee , Bloomberg.com, June 14, 2018.
  6. ↑ a b c d Christian Ultsch, Elisabeth Postl: Gusenbauer and the Kiew-Connection , press of February 24, 2018.
  7. ↑ Theodoric Meyer: More details on Manafort's 'Hapsburg group' , Politico website from June 25, 2018.
  8. ↑ Gusenbauer denies "discreet lobbying" in Ukraine , Der Standard from June 14, 2018.
  9. ↑ Yanukovych subsequently rejected the association agreement with the EU in a completely surprising manner in November 2013; Russia is said to have made him a better offer that he could not refuse.
  10. ↑ Gusenbauer denies covert Ukraine lobbying in the USA , orf.at of February 24, 2018.
  11. ↑ Criminal No. 17-201-1 (ABJ) (S-5) .
  12. ↑ Criminal No. 17-201 (ABJ) (S-3) , US District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).
  13. ↑ Michael Nikbakhsh: Alfred Gusenbauer and the Friends of Kazakhstan , profile , June 27, 2015.
  14. ↑ Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Exhibit A to Registration Statement Pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938. US Department of Justice, accessed February 25, 2018 .
  15. ↑ Mercury Public Affairs, LLC: Exhibit A to Registration Statement Pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938. US Department of Justice, accessed February 24, 2018 .
  16. ↑ DMP International, LLC: Exhibit A to Registration Statement Pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938. US Department of Justice, accessed on February 24, 2018 .
  17. ↑ Example of such a newspaper article by Romano Prodi: EU should welcome Ukraine as a partner for Europe's own good , website csmonitor.com from April 2, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Russiagate, politici europei pagati since Manafort". Prodi: “Non l'ho mai incontrato” , website: corriere.it of February 24, 2018.
  19. ↑ What's Happening for May 28, 2013.
  20. ↑ Syria scrutinized over three hour working dinner at the White House , hurriyetdailynews.com, May 18, 2013.