Austria

Germany is coping - three years after the immigration wave, 25 % of refugees have jobs

12.6.2018 7:35 The subject of immigration to Germany has been a "hit" in the Czech media for a couple of years now, mostly in a negative context. The most recent news from there to catch the Czech media's interest was a scandal around the awarding of asylum to insufficiently investigated applicants in Bremen, as well as calculations of how much money it is costing Germany to basically take care of the refugees.  full story

Austria: First newborn of the year has become a target of hateful commentary

10.1.2018 11:29 The Austrian daily Heute reports that when Alper and Naime Tamga welcomed their newborn daughter Asel into the world on New Year's Day, she was the country's very first newborn of 2018. Instead of congratulations, however, hateful comments were posted to social networking sites after a photograph of the happy family was published.  full story

Tensions rising between Austria and Italy over migrants

26.7.2017 9:58 Tensions are continuing to rise between Austria and Italy over disagreements about how to deal with migrants entering Europe. The chair of the Socialist group in the European Parliament (EP), Italian MEP Gianni Pittella, has accused the Austrian Foreign Minister of wanting to transform one of the Italian islands in the Mediterranean Sea into a "concentration camp".  full story

Austria: Hitler impersonator arrested for appearing in the Nazi leader's home town

18.2.2017 9:59 A man who appeared in public dressed to appear like Adolf Hitler was arrested Monday, 13 February by police in the northern Austrian town of Ried im Innkreis. The impersonator of the Nazi leader had appeared several times in Hitler's birthplace as well, the Austrian Press Agency reported on 14 February.  full story

Turkey faces criticism for planned abolition of punishment for the sexual abuse of children

16.8.2016 16:21 On the basis of a request from a lower court, Turkey's Constitutional Court decided last month to abolish a provision regulating the punishment of sexual crimes committed against children younger than 15. The district court had complained that current legislation does not distinguish between age groups and treats children between age 4 and age 14 equivalently.  full story

Austria: Ultra-right extremists assault university rector during lecture

19.6.2016 10:27 A lecture at a university in the southern Austrian town of Klagenfurt was disrupted on 10 June by approximately 10 adherents of the ultra-right who burst into the lecture hall shouting with megaphones. Rector Oliver Vitouch told the Austrian Press Agency that one of them proceeded to strike him in the belly.  full story

Austria: Arsonists set future asylum-seeker shelter on fire

9.6.2016 6:38 A wooden building in the north of Austria near the Czech and German borders that was supposed to become a shelter for asylum seekers was set on fire last week. According to representatives of the Red Cross, which owns the building, the fire was set by arsonists.  full story

Austrian neo-Nazi massacres festival-goers

24.5.2016 22:46 At the beginning of the week the Czech media briefly reported on an incident in the small town of Nenzing, Austria, where on Sunday morning a 27-year-old man, after a seemingly banal argument with his girlfriend, shot randomly into a crowd of people. Two men died on the spot and more than 10 people were injured.  full story

Austria: Arson attacks against Romani families from Romania

11.3.2016 20:38 Unidentified perpetrators set fire to the tents of Romani families from Romania in the Upper Austrian city of Linz at the beginning of March. Fortunately, no one was injured in that incident.  full story

Austria's "word of the year" contest shows impact of refugee crisis

4.12.2015 22:35 "Willkommenskultur" ("the culture of welcome") has been voted Austria's 2015 "word of the year" in an online survey in which almost 34 000 people voted and an expert commission then chose what word to designate with this honor. The "misnomer of the year", on the other hand, is "special building measures", which Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner used to described a planned fence on the border with Slovenia.  full story

Austria: Not even refugee crisis could bring the ultra-right full victory, SocDems still rule Vienna

13.10.2015 5:07 The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) has won 39.4 % of the vote over its competitors, the ultra-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), and has therefore won the regional elections in Vienna. The FPÖ won 32.1 % of the vote, 6.4 % more than in 2010.  full story

EU-funded online Roma resources project draws criticism from academics and activists

12.10.2015 16:42 Stefan Benedik of the History Department at the University of Graz in Austria has written a protest letter regarding the online promotional video for a project called "e-roma-resource" (e-RR) funded by the European Commission's Lifelong Learning Programme. The video has since been removed.  full story

VIDEO: Austrian gives refugees a ride - look what happened next!

8.9.2015 22:05 On Sunday, 6 September, approximately 100 Austrians announced they were undertaking a private initiative to assist refugees and drove to Hungary in their own cars from Vienna that same day. The aim of their trip was to deliver necessary items to refugees desperately waiting for a chance to reach their destinations - and to personally transport at least some of them to Austria.  full story

Austria: 20 000 demonstrate in support of receiving refugees

1.9.2015 19:26 The Austrian Press Agency reports that at least 20 000 people, according to Austrian Police estimates, gathered for a demonstration against the inhumane treatment of refugees yesterday in the center of Vienna. Approximately 450 police officers patrolled the marchers and the event took place without incident.  full story

Hungary arrests five over refugee deaths, Austrian authorities save intercepted children

30.8.2015 23:06 A court in the Hungarian city of Kecskemét remanded four men into custody on 28 August who are suspected of having contributed to the deaths of the 71 refugees in a refrigerator truck that was discovered in eastern Austria last week. Agence France-Presse reports that those arrested will remain in custody until 29 September at the request of Hungarian prosecutors.  full story

Austria reports 71 refugees died in refrigerator truck, four of them children

28.8.2015 19:37 A truck found yesterday in the east of Austria turned out to contain 71 dead refugees, four of them children. Hans Peter Doskozil, Chief of Police in the Austrian state of Burgenland, announced the number at a press conference today.  full story

Austrian Police discover as many as 50 dead refugees in refrigerator truck

27.8.2015 22:43 Austrian Police have found what may be as many as 50 dead refugees in a parked truck in the east of the country near the border with Hungary. The exact number of dead refugees found in the refrigerator truck and other details will be announced tomorrow at 11:00 CET.  full story

Austrian Chancellor criticizes Czech Republic for rejecting EU quotas on refugee reception

25.8.2015 19:33 Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann criticized the Czech Republic, the Baltic countries and Poland for rejecting redistribution quotas for refugees within the European Union. Speaking on the "Morgenjournal" program on radio station Ö1, Faymann declared that without quotas it will be impossible to stabilize the situation on the EU's external borders which are being crossed by thousands of refugees primarily from Africa and the Middle East, but Czech PM Bohuslav Sobotka has a different opinion on the matter.  full story

Canada accused of racially profiling Roma travellers from Hungary at European airport

9.7.2015 0:28 In an echo of the approach taken by the UK toward Romani air passengers from the Czech Republic in 2001, Romani citizens of Hungary say Canadian border officials are stopping them in Europe from boarding flights to Canada, according to thestar.com. Romani author Eva Kalla (age 60), a citizen of Hungary, was stopped at the airport in Vienna and referred to a Canadian border official who refused to let her fly to Toronto - even though EU citizens need no visas to do so.  full story

Austria: Former Czech Foreign Minister warns of racism

Vienna, 6.5.2014 16:36, (ROMEA) The Austrian Press Agency reports that yesterday former Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg was asked to address the Austrian Parliament as an honorary speaker on the occasion of the Day of the Fight against Violence and Racism there, where he called for vigilance regarding manifestations of racism. Austrians annually commemorate WWII-era persecution on 5 May, and this year's commemoration was dedicated to the victims of Terezín.  full story