Austria’s Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache of the far-right Freedom Party has said he is stepping down and would be replaced by Transport Minister Norbert Hofer after an embarrassing video of him was published by two German newspapers.

The far-right leader announced his resignation on Saturday, plunging the country into a political crisis just days before key European Union (EU) elections are held from May 23 to 26.

“I tendered my resignation as vice-chancellor of Austria to Chancellor Kurz, and he accepted this decision,” Strache said in a televised statement.

Freedom Party (FPO) leader Strache was shown in the footage published on Friday by two German newspapers meeting a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch in 2017, shortly before the election that brought him to power.

“It was dumb, it was irresponsible and it was a mistake,” Strache later told a press conference, fighting back tears as he asked his wife and others to forgive him, as reported by Al Jazeera.

He maintained, however, that he had done nothing illegal and that it was a “targeted political assassination”.