Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip has stressed he is not worried about his country’s economic performance despite calls for a boycott of products. The conservative politician told Austrian magazine profil: “I do agree that there is room to improve our political relationship with Russia. However, the economic cooperation is getting better. A tenth of our […]
Bosses of Austria’s strongest right-wing faction are struggling to settle an intense party-internal dispute which experts say poses a risk to its grasp for power. Freedom Party (FPÖ) leader Heinz-Christian Strache and Norbert Hofer, Strache’s deputy, recently announced that member of the parliament (MP) Werner Königshofer will be expelled over a string of controversial claims. […]
Terror experts consider Islamic extremism as the biggest threat to Austria in the medium term despite “vanishingly low” crime figures in this context. Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner announced she wanted to press on with introducing stricter anti-terror laws over the results of the latest Report on the Protection of the Constitution […]
Seven in 10 back burka ban
Categories
A vast majority of Austrians want an anti-burka law, according to a new poll. Viennese public opinion agency Karmasin spoke with 500 Austrians to find that 71 per cent of them were in favour of such a law prohibiting wearing burkas in public places. Such veils cover women’s bodies expect a small gap for their […]
The number of requests for political asylum in Austria by people from North Africa has increased in the wake of the unrest in the region, new figures show. Official statistics presented today (Tues) reveal that 23 Libyans asked for asylum in Austria between January and June of this year. Only two refugees from the civil […]
Austria extradites Sanader
Categories
Austria has extradited one of Croatia’s most controversial politicians. Former Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) chairman and Prime Minister Ivo Sanader was transferred from Salzburg to a prison in Zagreb, the federal capital of Croatia, yesterday evening (Mon). Sanader was put in custody in Salzburg last December. He had been behind bars in the Austrian city […]
Strache sends emissary to Libya
Categories
An Austrian right-winger has travelled to Libya in an alleged attempt to end the violent conflict in the North African country. Freedom Party (FPÖ) boss Heinz-Christian Strache confirmed today (Mon) that FPÖ Vienna councillor David Lasar was in Tripoli, the federal capital of the civil war-shattered nation. Strache explained he decided to send Lasar as […]
Austria’s decision not to extradite a war crimes suspect has caused a severe diplomatic rift with Lithuania. Juridical decision-makers opted to let Mikhail G. go after he was put in custody at Vienna International Airport (VIA or VIE) last Thursday. The former officer of Soviet security agency KGB is accused of having masterminded the operations […]
Faymann pursues no-show policy
Categories
Political opponents and some fellow party members are expected to turn their guns on Social Democratic (SPÖ) chief Werner Faymann once more as the chancellor skipped an arranged meeting with the president of Poland. Faymann was expected to welcome Bronislaw Komorowski for a brief chat at his office in Vienna on Wednesday. However, the meeting […]
Ex-diplomat attacks ‘self-centred’ USA
Categories
An influential author and university lecturer has criticised the United States of America for having changed little since the end of the presidential term of George W. Bush. Thomas Nowotny, who worked as secretary of late Austrian Social Democratic (SPÖ) Chancellor Bruno Kreisky, claimed in an interview that the USA “are still very self-centred and […]