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Today in Austria For Members

Today in Austria: A roundup of the latest news on Monday

Emma Midgley
Emma Midgley - [email protected]
Today in Austria: A roundup of the latest news on Monday
It's beautiful spring weather again today. (Photo by ALEX HALADA / AFP)

Every weekday, The Local brings you an English-language summary of the news you need to know in Austria.

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Austria's Chancellor condemns Russian war crimes

Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer has joined Europe's political leaders in condemning Russian atrocities in the Ukrainian city of Bucha and areas around Kyiv.

He tweeted that "war crimes were committed" and "those responsible must be held accountable".

Special debate to help Austrians with high inflation

The opposition SPÖ party has called an emergency meeting so the Austrian federal government can discuss ways to lessen the impact of sky rocking inflation in Austria. The meeting will take place on Tuesday. 

The leader of the SPÖ, Pamela Rendi-Wagner is calling for income tax to be cut, for pensions to be adjusted for inflation, tax cuts on fuel, gas and electricity and the withdrawal of the benchmark rent increase. In addition, she wants to create a ten percent windfall tax on the profits of energy companies. 

Close relationship between Austria’s far right and Russia uncovered

Newly discovered documents uncover the close relationship between Europe’s far right parties and the Kremlin, broadcaster ORF reports, commenting they  were closer than expected. The parties with links to Russia are generally Eurosceptic, against immigration and believe in ‘family values’.

The documents disclose details about  Austrian politicians such as Heinz-Christian Strache and Johannes Hübner, both FPÖ, and their links to Russia.

Documents and e-mails were leaked to the London Dossier Centre, an investigative journalism nonprofit organisation. They show that an employee of the Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev's Zargrad group suggested that the FPÖ politician Johannes Hübner could work in Austria to have sanctions against Russia lifted.

The fee for this service was quoted as $20,000, plus an additional $15,000 "if a vote is successful." In June 2016, Hübner introduced a motion for a resolution in parliament called "Lifting of sanctions against Russia", which was rejected.

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Hundreds of thousands of vaccine certificates in Austria due to expire

Around 456,000 people in Austria have let their ‘Green Pass” corona vaccination certificates expire and have not received any further vaccinations. 

The Ministry of Health announced on Thursday that 600,000 green passes will expire by May if those affected do not recover from Covid-19 or get more jabs.

There is still no solution for people who received third booster vaccinations which are due to expire before a fourth vaccination is recommended, but the Ministry of Health has made assurances there will be a timely solution.

Vienna calls for more funding to deal with thousands of Ukrainian school children

More than 13,000 people who fled Ukraine have already registered themselves as living in Vienna. Around 40 percent are children and young people. This presents Viennese kindergartens and schools with major challenges, the Vienna Chamber of Labour (AK) told Radio Vienna on Monday.

The Chamber predicts around 13,000 refugee children under the age of six will need childcare in Vienna this year – along with 27,000 children of compulsory school age.

The AK is asking for 55 million euros from the federal government to cope with the influx of children to the capital. A recent recruitment campaign to get retired teachers back into work has not been a huge success, with just five retired teachers returning to work, the AK said.

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Lower Austria towns report parking problems

Towns surrounding Vienna in Lower Austria are starting to be filled up with people parking their cars and taking public transport into town, due to the capital’s new stricter parking measures, broadcaster ORF reports.

Parking zones will now be set up in Gerasdorf (district of Korneuburg) and Purkersdorf (district of St. Pölten), allowing only residents to park their permanently. Locals say they can no longer find parking spaces since the measures came into effect.

READ MORE: What you need to know about parking in Austria

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