Merkel urges Europe to stand up to politicians 'for sale'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday that European politicians "must stand up to" far-right politicians "for sale", after a hidden-camera sting brought down nationalist Austrian Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache over allegations he was open to corruption.

"We are confronted with currents... who want to destroy the Europe of our values, and we must stand up to that decisively," Merkel told a press conference in the Croatian capital Zagreb before heading to a gathering of the country's ruling conservative HDZ party ahead of European Parliament elections.

While far-right parties rejected values like protecting minorities and basic human rights, Merkel said, "politicians being for sale plays a role, and we must act decisively against all of that".

Germany's Der Spiegel and Sueddeutsche Zeitung late Friday published video recordings, allegedly showing Freedom Party (FPOe) leader Strache promising public contracts in return for campaign help from a fake Russian ...