Category Archives: Austria

Far-right EU election gains could boost nationalist parties on home turf

Posted on by

Polls indicate a surge for the right across the continent in next month’s ballots but the centrists are still likely to hold sway in parliament

Far-right gains in next month’s European elections will be hard, if not impossible, to parlay into more power in parliament, experts say, but they could boost nationalist parties in EU capitals – with potentially greater consequences.

Polling suggests far-right and hardline conservative parties could finish first in nine EU states, including Austria, France and the Netherlands, in the polls between 6 and 9 June, and second or third in another nine, including Germany, Spain, Portugal and Sweden.

Continue reading...

Four Germans caught marking Hitler’s birthday at his house

Posted on by

Police in Upper Austria province said the four were laying white roses at Nazi dictator’s birthplace

Four Germans were caught laying white roses in memory of Adolf Hitler at the house where the Nazi dictator was born in western Austria on the anniversary of his birth, and one gave a Hitler salute as they posed for photos, police have said.

Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 in Braunau am Inn. After lengthy wrangling over the future of the house where he was born, work started last year on turning it into a police station — a project meant to make it unattractive as a pilgrimage site for people who glorify Hitler.

Continue reading...

Avalanche in Austria kills three skiers from the Netherlands

Posted on by

Group of 17 were ski touring near resort of Sölden when 80-metre wide avalanche hit

An avalanche near the Austrian ski resort of Sölden has killed three skiers from the Netherlands. Another person was rescued and taken to hospital.

The victims were part of a 17-person ski touring group that was on an ascent with four Austrian guides. Ski touring involves using skis with special bindings and skins that make moving uphill possible.

Continue reading...

Populist parties’ divisions jeopardise chances of setting European agenda

Posted on by

Survey shows supporters of nationalist parties hold widely differing views on EU membership, migration and support for Ukraine

Populist and nationalist parties fighting the European elections in June are deeply divided on almost all key issues, according to a survey, in a finding that questions their chances of defining the bloc’s agenda even in the event of a predicted far-right surge.

However, the report, by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), also said pro-EU parties risked mobilising the Eurosceptic vote if they continued to ape hard-right policies rather than coming up with persuasive alternatives.

Continue reading...

Vienna court overturns decision to transfer Josef Fritzl to regular prison

Posted on by

Austrian man jailed for raping and imprisoning his daughter for 24 years to remain in psychiatric unit

A Vienna court has overturned a decision to transfer Josef Fritzl from a special psychiatric unit to a regular jail, ordering the case back to the lower court.

Fritzl, 88, repeatedly raped his daughter and locked her in a cellar for more than 24 years, fathering seven children with her.

Continue reading...

Four women and girl, 13, killed in Vienna in two separate incidents

Posted on by

Three women found with fatal knife wounds in brothel, while bodies of another woman and daughter discovered in apartment

Austrian authorities are investigating the killings of four women and a 13-year-old girl in Vienna within a day, including three found stabbed to death in a brothel.

The bodies of three young women were found with fatal knife wounds in a brothel in the Austrian capital’s Brigittenau district on Friday night after a witness alerted police.

Continue reading...

Thousands across Austria take part in protests against far right

Posted on by

‘Defend democracy’ events were planned for Innsbruck, Salzburg and in front of parliament building in Vienna

Thousands of Austrians have taken to the streets of the country’s three largest cities, in a spillover of protests over the rise of the far right in neighbouring Germany.

Under the slogan “defend democracy”, gatherings organised by a broad alliance of civil society organisations, NGOs, political groups, church communities and trade unions took place in Innsbruck, Salzburg, and in front of the parliament building in Vienna.

Continue reading...

Skiers leaving ‘forever chemicals’ on pistes, study finds

Posted on by

Research finds 14 different types of PFAS chemicals commonly used in ski wax on slopes in Austrian ski resorts

Skiers are leaving “forever chemicals” in the snow on ski slopes, a study has found.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – a group of 10,000 or so human-made chemicals widely used in industrial processes, firefighting foams and consumer products – are colloquially known as “forever chemicals” due to their persistence in the environment; they do not easily break down.

Continue reading...

Germany considers entry ban on Austrian behind mass deportation plan

Posted on by

Interior ministry considering options against Martin Sellner after days of protests against AfD

German authorities are closely examining the possibility of an entry ban for the far-right Austrian whose master plan for the deportation of immigrants is at the heart of a storm gripping Germany over the rightwing populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party.

Martin Sellner, the founder of the so-called Identitarian Movement, which preaches the superiority of European ethnic groups, could be banned from entering Germany if he is deemed to pose a threat to German democratic stability, according to members of the interior affairs committee of the Bundestag.

Continue reading...

‘Anti-European’ populists on track for big gains in EU elections, says report

Posted on by

France, Poland and Austria among nine countries where radical rightwing parties predicted to finish first

Populist “anti-European” parties are heading for big gains in June’s European elections that could shift the parliament’s balance sharply to the right and jeopardise key pillars of the EU’s agenda including climate action, polling suggests.

Polling in all 27 EU member states, combined with modelling of how national parties performed in past European parliament elections, shows radical right parties are on course to finish first in nine countries including Austria, France and Poland.

Continue reading...

Geert Wilders’ victory confirms upward trajectory of far right in Europe

Posted on by

Dutch general election results show how populist and far-right parties are advancing into political mainstream

Geert Wilders’ shock victory in the Dutch general election confirms the upward trajectory of Europe’s populist and far-right parties, which – with the occasional setback – are continuing their steady march into the mainstream.

There is no guarantee that Wilders, whose anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV) won 37 seats in Wednesday’s ballot – more than twice its 2021 total – will be able to form a government with a majority in the Netherlands’ 150-seat parliament.

Continue reading...

Moldovan president’s dog bites hand of Austrian president

Posted on by

Incident happened in Moldovan presidential residence when Alexander Van der Bellen tried to pet Maia Sandu’s rescue dog

The dog of the Moldovan president, Maia Sandu, has overturned protocol by biting the visiting Austrian president, Alexander Van der Bellen, on the hand.

The incident occurred on Thursday when the two leaders were strolling in the courtyard of the Moldovan presidential residence in the capital, Chișinău, and Van der Bellen tried to pet the dog, Moldovan media reported.

Continue reading...

Austria puts aside millions for gay people who faced prosecution

Posted on by

People investigated under discriminatory laws to get €500, while those convicted will get €3,000 or more, says justice minister

Austria has set aside millions of euros to compensate thousands of gay people who until two decades ago faced prosecution, its justice minister has said.

The country decriminalised homosexuality in 1971 but certain discriminatory provisions remained in force until the early 2000s.

Continue reading...

Austria to work with UK on Rwanda-style plan for asylum seekers

Posted on by

Suella Braverman signs ‘migration and security agreement’ with Austrian counterpart in move to work more closely together

Austria is seeking to adopt a Rwanda-style deal to deport asylum seekers to a third country, having agreed a deal to work with the UK on migration.

Suella Braverman signed a “migration and security agreement” with her Austrian counterpart, Gerhard Karner, in which the two countries agreed to work more closely together.

Continue reading...

‘Pervasive and relentless’ racism on the rise in Europe, survey finds

Posted on by

Poll of 6,752 people of African descent in 13 countries finds almost half have experienced discrimination

Racism is “pervasive and relentless” and on the rise in Europe, with nearly half of black people in member states surveyed by the EU reporting discrimination, from the verbal abuse of their children to being blocked by landlords from renting homes.

In every walk of life, from schools to the job market, housing and health, a survey by the EU’s rights agency of people of African descent found high levels of discrimination, with some of the worst results recorded in Austria and Germany, where far-right parties have been on the rise.

Continue reading...

Several hospitalised in Austria after using suspected fake diabetes drug

Posted on by

Health regulator says serious side-effects possibly caused by insulin in counterfeit versions of Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic

Several people have been admitted to hospital in Austria after using suspected fake versions of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic, the country’s health safety body has said, the first report of harm to users as a European hunt for counterfeiters widened.

The patients were reported to have suffered hypoglycaemia and seizures, serious side-effects that indicate that the product contained insulin instead of Ozempic’s active ingredient semaglutide, the health safety regulator Bundesamt für Sicherheit im Gesundheitswesen (BASG) said on Monday.

Continue reading...

Autumn heat continues in Europe after record-breaking September

Posted on by

Countries including France, Germany and Poland all had their hottest Septembers on record

Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Poland and Switzerland have all experienced their hottest Septembers on record, with unseasonably high temperatures set to continue into October, in a year likely to be the warmest in human history.

As 31C (88F) was forecast in south-west France on Sunday and 28C in Paris, the French weather authority, Météo-France, said September’s average temperature was 21.5C, between 3.5C and 3.6C above the norm for the 1991-2020 reference period.

Continue reading...

Austrian ex-foreign minister moves to Russia – with ponies flown in on military plane

Posted on by

Karin Kneissl says she is moving to Russia to lead a thinktank she set up with St Petersburg University

An Austrian former foreign minister, Karin Kneissl, who became infamous in 2018 for dancing with Russian president Vladimir Putin at her wedding, has moved to St Petersburg – along with her ponies, which were flown in on a Russian military plane.

In 2018, Karin Kneissl, then foreign minister of neutral Austria, made headlines when she invited Putin to her wedding. It drew widespread criticism, coming just months after some EU countries – excluding Austria – expelled scores of Russian diplomats in response to the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.

Continue reading...

Rhino kills keeper at Austrian zoo and injures her husband

Posted on by

Animal attacked couple, killing 33-year-old woman and her spouse, who tried to chase the animal away

A rhino at a zoo in Austria has attacked a married zookeeper couple, killing the woman and seriously injuring the man.

Sabine Grebner, the director of the Hellbrunn zoo in Salzburg, told reporters on Tuesday that the 33-year-old woman had been assigned to put an insect deterrent on the rhino.

Continue reading...

Austrian Social Democrats announce wrong leader after ‘technical error’

Posted on by

Party officials say Andreas Babler won race, not Hans Peter Doskozil as previously declared due to Excel error

Austria’s Social Democratic party has admitted a “technical error” in an Excel file led to it announcing the wrong candidate as its new leader.

Officials at the centre-left SPÖ said on Monday that Andreas Babler, the mayor of the south-eastern city of Traiskirchen, had in fact won the race, and not Hans Peter Doskozil, the governor of the south-eastern Burgenland region, who had been declared the winner on Saturday.

Continue reading...