Facing potential backlash over constitutional concerns that the construction of the first two battleships committed Austria-Hungary to spend roughly 120 million "Kronen" without prior approval by either the Austrian "Reichsrat" or the Diet of Hungary, the deal remained secret. In the event of the agreement being leaked to the press prior to the passage of a new naval budget, Montecuccoli drafted several explanations to justify the battleships' construction and the necessity to keep their existence a secret. These included the navy's urgent need to counter Italy's naval build up and desire to negotiate a lower price with their builders. By the time the agreement was leaked to the public in April 1910 by the "Arbeiter-Zeitung", the newspaper of Austria's Social Democratic Party, the plans had already been finalized and construction on the first two battleships, "Viribus Unitis" and "Tegetthoff", was about to begin.