in which Kunasek led his party as the FPÖ's top candidate and celebrated the state party's best result to date with 26.76%, he was sworn in as a member of the Styrian state parliament on 16 June 2015. At the same time, he resigned as a member of the National Council. In the Styrian provincial parliament, Mario Kunasek was the chairman of the Freedom Party's provincial parliamentary club until December 2017. Federal Minister for National Defense (2017-2019). After ÖVP and FPÖ made strong gains in the 2017 National Council election, they formed a joint government coalition. Mario Kunasek was nominated by the FPÖ as Minister of Defense and took over the agendas of the Minister of Defense during a ceremonial act at the Federal Ministry of National Defense on 18 December 2017.[5] The Minister of Defense was appointed by the FPÖ. During his tenure, Kunasek came under the scrutiny of the Economic and Corruption Prosecution Office (WKStA) in March 2019 when he proposed three officers of the Austrian Armed Forces for promotion to the rank of general. Although the candidates were suitable for this appointment according to the evaluation commission, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen did not sign their certification. Thereafter, the WKStA launched an investigation against Kunasek on suspicion of abuse of office. However, in May 2022, the prosecution finally closed its investigation without any results. Shortly after the publication of the so-called Ibiza video, Kunasek was re-elected on 20 May 2019 at the provincial party conference of the FPÖ Styria with 99.6% of the delegates' votes as provincial party chairman and nominated as top candidate for the 2019 provincial election.[7] After the dismissal of Interior Minister Herbert Kickl, Mario Kunasek was removed from his ministerial post on 22 May at his own request by Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen. He was succeeded as defense minister by officer Johann Luif in the provisional Löger government until June 2019. In the Bierlein government, Thomas Starlinger held this office until 7 January 2020. Member of the Styrian parliament and club chairman (since 2019). On 28 May 2019, Mario Kunasek returned to Styria as a member of the Styrian state parliament and FPÖ Klubobmann. He was re-commissioned as a member of the Styrian parliament after Anton Kogler resigned his mandate. References 1976 births Living people Freedom Party of Austria politicians Austrian Ministers of Defence People from Styria Austrian military personnel