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Wolfgang Schüssel (born 7 June 1945 in Vienna, Austria) is an Austrian politician, Chancellor of his country from February 2000 to January 2007. Its political party is the Austrian People's Party (Österreichische Volkspartei, ÖVP). In 2011, he left his parliamentary mandate in response to corruption charges against former members of his Government.

Their mandates as Chancellor were relevant at the level of European Union (EU) policy.

Biography
Wolfgang Schüssel was born in Vienna, Austria, on 7 June 1945, and was the son of a teacher and a journalist affiliated with the German National Socialist Workers' Party (Nazi Party) before the defeat at the end of World War II in 1945. He grew up in a home marked by economic difficulties.

Political career
In September 1998, while serving as the Austrian Foreign Minister and Deputy Chancellor, Schüssel presented the idea of a "new partnership for Europe," which would cover the then 15 Member States of the European Union, the 11 Eastern and Cyprus candidates, Turkey, the remains of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), including Russia, Moldova and Ukraine, and the Mediterranean countries. In total, approximately 988 million inhabitants at that time.

The initiative did not have sufficient support from the other European Union governments, so there was no continuity as a project.

Federal Chancellor of Austria

First term
Schüssel reached the Chancellery in a controversial way. Until 1999, the ÖVP had been a government partner of the Austrian Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, SPÖ). In the general elections in Austria in 1999, SPÖ remained the most voted force, but lost more votes. The Austrian Freedom Party (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ), a nationalist and close to the extreme right, led at that time by Jörg Haider, was second, obtaining just 415 votes more than the ÖVP (on a total of over 4.6 million votes cast nationally). In these circumstances, Schüssel entered into negotiations with Haider, which led to a government agreement whereby Schüssel became Chancellor.

As a result of the FPÖ's entry into government (although Haider himself never held any position in the government), the leaders of the other 14 Member States of the European Union adopted a series of informal "sanctions" against the Austrian government (since the legislative procedure in the European Union did not allow for official action against a Member State). These sanctions included a reduction in diplomatic contacts with Austria to a minimum.

The sanctions, while not causing material or economic damage, reduced the initial enthusiasm of the Austrians after their accession to the European Union. In view of the