Anti-corruption investigators have asked to check the bank accounts of a former member of the European Parliament (MEP), according to a report.Business magazine Format reported yesterday (Mon) that state prosecutors asked the Criminal Court in Vienna for permission to search the accounts of Ernst Strasser. The former interior minister resigned as MEP recently amid accusations […]
Austrias second-strongest political party may get a new leader, according to press.Several newspapers are speculating that the board of the Peoples Party (ÖVP) has started to negotiate who could follow Josef Pröll as chairman, finance minister and vice chancellor.The former environment minister was airlifted to a clinic in Innsbruck after experiencing breathing difficulties during a […]
The Peoples Party (ÖVP) is in turmoil after two members of the European Parliament (MEP) quit within days.MEP Helga Ranner announced yesterday (Tues) she decided to resign. Austrian newspapers claimed Ranner tried to cover personal debts of around seven million Euros with MEPs reimbursement of expenses.Ranner vehemently denied the accusations, but argued the reports have […]
Othmar Karas may succeed Ernst Strasser as leader of the Austrian Peoples Partys (ÖVP) delegation in the European Parliament (EP).Strasser decided to resign as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) yesterday (Sun) after investigative journalists of the Sunday Times revealed he was willing to lobby on behalf of financial sector companies in the EP. The […]
The federal coalition has been attacked from all sides of the political spectrum after agreeing on a quota for females in businesses close to the state.Social Democratic (SPÖ) Womens Minister Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek and Peoples Party (ÖVP) Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner announced yesterday (Tues) that the decision will affect 55 companies in which the Republic of […]
Freedom Party (FPÖ) chiefs have turned their guns on Peoples Party (ÖVP) officials in the wake of detonations at a nuclear power plant in Japan.FPÖ deputy chairman Norbert Hofer said today (Tues) former ÖVP Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel must make a decision over whether he wanted to be a “lobbyist for the nuclear power industry or […]
The Austrian government has decided to expand a programme making donations to charity organisations tax-deductible.The federal coalition formed by the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the Peoples Party (ÖVP) announced today (Mon) the model will also consider money given to organisations which run animal shelters, voluntary fire brigades and natural protection groups.The decree, which […]
The Austrian government will support Libyan refugees, it has been announced.Maria Fekter, interior minister in the coalition of Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the conservative Peoples Party (ÖVP), said today (Fri) Austria will send 15,000 so-called hygiene packages to refugee camps set up in Tunisia and Egypt where people fleeing from the civil war in the […]
The debate over whether the government spends enough on higher education is set to intensify after just one Austrian university made the top 100 in a global ranking.Vienna University was listed in the group of institutions placed between 91st and 100th in the 2011 Times Higher Education Ranking. The study provides detailed data for the […]
More than one in 10 Romanians who are planning to study abroad have Austria in mind, according to a poll.A survey among university students who have spending one or more semesters abroad in mind, revealed Great Britain as the most favoured destination with 51 per cent ahead of France (30.6 per cent) and the United […]