News from Austria

Storm "Egon" is heading towards Austria, bringing colder temperatures and more snow.

Germany was lashed by hurricane-force winds and snow on Friday, leaving at least one driver dead, thousands without power and more than 100 flights cancelled.

After milder temperatures in Austria in the last few days, the mercury will drop and mountainous regions will see heavy snowfall - up to 60cm in some alpine areas.

Carinthia and Styria will also have plenty of snow over the weekend - with Klagenfurt and Graz forecast to have up to 15cm of fresh snow. Several accidents have already been reported in Carinthia due to the snowy conditions.

At altitudes of 800 metres, up to 40cm of snow is expected. Snow is also forecast north of the Alps, from Vorarlberg to the south of Lower Austria. The capital, Vienna, may also get a light blanket of the white stuff.

On Sunday, maximum temperatures in Austria won’t be above 0C, and temperatures will continue to fall next week.


Snow in Vienna.

Brrrrh.

LL, I just thoroughly enjoyed the video of the zoo.  I am very appreciative that you posted it.  Thank you. xx

Austria says asylum numbers halved but still too high.

The number of asylum applications in Austria more than halved in 2016 but remains "high" the country's interior minister said as the figures were released Sunday 15 January 2017.

Some 42,100 people applied last year, compared to 90,000 in the 12 months previously, when the migration crisis peaked in Europe.

The latest asylum statistics, after the closure of the Balkan route, represent 0.5 percent of the Austrian population.

But Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka, quoted in a document released by national news agency APA said it remains a "high level".

Despite the recent decline, the number of asylum seekers, mainly from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Pakistan, is twice as large as in 2014 and almost three times higher than in 2013, the ministry said.

The rise in applications in the past three years has resulted in a vigorous political debate in Austria.

Several people linked to deadly jihadist assaults in Europe transited through Austria using false papers among the flow of desperate migrants heading into Europe.

IMO, these armies of aggressive young men should NEVER have been allowed into Europe, while the Christians, Yazidis and other minorities should have been given all the help they needed. They are in real danger, while presenting no threat to us.

This has nothing to do with 'racism' - it's what's between some people's ears that's the problem.

Allowing all these military age islamic men into Europe is as stupid as letting a million nazis into the UK in 1940 would have been, or hundreds of thousands of the KOMSOMOL at the height of the Cold War.

Plastic bags on the way out in Austria's supermarkets.

Most of Austria’s larger supermarket chains have now voluntarily stopped providing their customers with plastic bags, as of January 1st. Instead, customers can buy a sturdy, reusable shopping bag at the checkout, if they haven’t brought their own from home.

This is due to an agreement reached between Austria’s Ministry of the Environment and environmental protection organizations, designed to help implement an EU directive which aims to reduce the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags.

http://www.thelocal.at/20170116/plastic-bags-on-the-way-out-in-austrias-shops-and-supermarkets

We're charged 5p for bags, LL, and it's amazing the difference it's made to people littering.

bb1 wrote:We're charged 5p for bags, LL, and it's amazing the difference it's made to people littering.

I remember taking a holiday in Dublin where paper carrier bags were provided free, but a plastic bag could cost up to Euros 5 depending on size. I always carry my own bags, two of which are elderly Sainsbury ones. LL

They did this ten years ago in France. It was a bit of a nuisance at the time because everyone used them a s bin bags. Now we have to buy black bags.

Strache and FPÖ delegation will attend Trump's Inauguration

President of Austria's Freedom Party (FPOe), Heinz-Christian Strache has officially announced their attendance at Donald Trump's upcoming inauguration that will take place this Friday. It was Strache who disclosed these plans on his Facebook on Tuesday morning. In his statement, he mentioned that there was a high level of interest in their visit waiting for them on the other side of the Atlantic, however not directly on the part of Donald Trump himself.

The invitation allegedly came from US-Congressman from Iowa, Steve King, who is known for his ultraconservative views and strong support for Trump. King made a trip to Vienna in October 2016 to visit with party members during the height of the election campaign. Following an inquiry by the APA, a speaker for the former presidential candidate and FPÖ vice president, Norbert Hofer has said he will "neither confirm nor deny" the accompaniment of Hofer in this delegation.

In the days leading up to the news, the media was abuzz with speculation regarding the potential ties between the highly conservative US republican constituency and Austria's far right political faction. As party chief, Strache has received criticism for his recent dealings, including a meeting with a Trump adviser shortly before the US election, and a visit to Moscow with the aim of strengthening relations.

The political tectonic plates appear to be shifting all over. And yes, I do blame Merkel's madness for most of it.

Me too, Bonny.  I do hope that more people over here will stop throwing their toys out of their prams...

Auschwitz seeks death camp items from Austrians and Germans.   18 January 2017

The museum at the former Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp in Poland has urged Germans and Austrians to hand over any material that could shed light on its wartime staff.

Museum director Piotr Cywinski appealed for "documents, photos, personal letters, diaries, or other materials" associated with people who ran the site.

The ruins of gas chambers, crematoriums and barracks at the site bear witness to Nazi Germany's killing of around 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, at the camp built in 1940 in the southern city of Oswiecim in occupied Poland.

An estimated 232,000 of Auschwitz victims were children. "Without a comprehensive analysis and understanding of the motivation and mentality of the perpetrators, our efforts to wisely counsel future generations will only remain intuitive. Today, we ask you to help," Cywinski said on the museum's website.

Up to now, museum historians have relied on the oral testimony of former prisoners, preserved camp documentation and post-war court trial files to piece together information about the camp, now an enduring symbol of the Holocaust.

The materials the museum has in its possession "are insufficient to fully understand the greatest tragedy in the history of Europe," Cywinski said.

He also guaranteed anonymity for anyone who "wishes to support our efforts to better understand the influence of populist mechanisms of hatred for human beings".

http://www.thelocal.at/20170118/auschwitz-seeks-death-camp-items-from-austrians-and-germans
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Pakistani people smuggler who nearly killed refugees jailed.


36 refugees were crammed into the back of this van

A Pakistani people smuggler has been jailed for four years after he crashed a small delivery van filled to the brim with 36 refugees at high speed on a motorway.

The 40-year-old Pakistani national, whose name was not released under strict privacy laws, was sentenced this week by a court in the Austrian city of St. Pölten.

http://www.thelocal.at/20170118/pakistani-people-smuggler-who-nearly-killed-refugees-jailed

Border controls to be tightened with Slovakia.

Austria aims to tighten border controls, in particular on its frontier with Slovakia following a rise in migrants trying to enter the country, the defence minister was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

"I am noticing a trend here that the smugglers are now using Slovakia," the Kurier daily cited Hans-Peter Doskozil as saying in its online edition.

http://www.thelocal.at/20170118/border-controls-to-be-tightened-with-slovakia

Girl who cried wolf over hate crime could be charged with filing false report.

A young Muslim girl who claimed she had been the victim of a hate crime at a train station and pushed onto the tracks has been accused of making it all up.

The 14-year-old, named only as Sinem, claimed on social media that she had been called a "terrorist" and was then pushed onto the tracks by a stranger who had taken offence at her headscarf at a railway station in the Austrian capital of Vienna.

http://www.thelocal.at/20170119/girl-who-cried-wolf-over-hate-crime-could-be-charged-with-filing-false-report

Another one!

Islamist terror suspect nabbed prior to bomb attack.
Austria's interior minister said Friday that the authorities averted a potential "terror attack" in Vienna with the arrest by armed police of an 18-year-old suspected Islamist extremist.
http://www.thelocal.at/20170120/islamist-terror-suspect-nabbed-prior-to-bomb-attack
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The 6,165 irregular migrants who can’t be deported from Vienna.
More than 20,000 asylum seekers are officially registered and receiving state benefits in the Austrian capital Vienna, but only two thirds of those are in the process of applying for or have been granted official refugee status, according to a report in the Kurier newspaper.
http://www.thelocal.at/20170120/the-irregular-migrants-who-cannot-be-deported-from-vienna

Vienna tram taken for a joy-ride.

According to a report from the ORF, a Vienna tram on the 60 line was stolen from its station around 8 a.m. on Saturday morning, while the driver was visiting the W.C.

The tram was stopped briefly in station Rodaun in Wien Liesing.

Wiener-Linien spokesperson Michael Unger said "our driver went briefly to the toilet, and locked the tram.  When he returned, the vehicle was no longer there."

Fortunately, there were no passengers in the tram at the time.

As soon as the driver reported his vehicle as stolen, the Wiener Linien arranged to cut the power to the section of the track where the tram was likely to be, according to Police spokesperson Irina Steirer.

The perpetrator of the theft made good his escape, without being noticed by any witnesses.

Police are looking for video surveillance footage, in order to trace the identity of the suspect.

The unknown person is expected to be charged with burglary and unauthorized use of a vehicle.

Apparently, the wannabe tram driver respected traffic rules, as there were no reports of violations.  

Unger confirmed that this was a highly unusual event.  "The tram is not easy to drive for people who are not familiar with it," he said.

"You also need a special activation key.  And our driver still had his key."

Islamist terror suspect nabbed prior to bomb attack.
Austria's interior minister said Friday that the authorities averted a potential "terror attack" in Vienna with the arrest by armed police of an 18-year-old suspected Islamist extremist.

"Our police forces managed in quick time to arrest a suspect and so prevent a potential terror attack in the federal capital Vienna," Wolfgang Sobotka said shortly after police in the capital announced the arrest.

"The suspect is an Austrian citizen with a migrant background who is 18 years old," Sobotka told a news conference. He said that possible indications that he may be an Islamic extremist were being looked into.
http://www.thelocal.at/20170120/islamist-terror-suspect-nabbed-prior-to-bomb-attack
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Raids follow terror arrest.
Austrian police raided several addresses early Saturday as they grilled a suspected Islamic extremist thought to have been planning an attack, authorities said.

"There were several raids on homes in Vienna and Lower Austria (state)," interior ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundboeck told AFP.

"Material recovered in these searches is now being evaluated... So far there has only been one arrest, the one which took place yesterday (Friday)," he said.
http://www.thelocal.at/20170122/raids-follow-terror-arrest

I don't envy the security forces, trying to keep tabs on these homicidal lunatics, LL. The police only have to get it wrong once, let one slip by, and the consequences are horrific, as we've seen.

bb1 wrote:I don't envy the security forces, trying to keep tabs on these homicidal lunatics, LL. The police only have to get it wrong once, let one slip by, and the consequences are horrific, as we've seen.

My son says that one advantage the Austrian authorities have is it is a small country with an excellent security record. Vienna, for instance, is by many standards quite a small city and the rapport between the Viennese and the police etc is very good - at least it is so far. I am keeping everything crossed that things stay as they are at present. When I was there in November I felt no tension in the air. LL

Good to know, LL, long may it continue!

Second arrest in Vienna terrorist bomb plot.

German police said Sunday they have arrested a man accused of having ties to a suspected Islamic extremist captured in Austria and thought to have been plotting an attack.

A spokesman for state police in North Rhine-Westphalia said the man, 21, was taken into custody on Saturday in the western city of Neuss on a warrant for "planning a serious crime targeting the state".

A spokesman for the Austrian interior ministry, Karl-Heinz Grundboeck, confirmed that the arrest "is linked" to that of a 17-year-old man -- not 18 as previously indicated -- in Vienna on Friday evening.

http://www.thelocal.at/20170122/second-arrest-in-vienna-terrorist-bomb-plot

Ice skating on Vienna's Alte Donau

The recent cold weather in Austria meant ice-skaters had perfect conditions on many lakes and some rivers over the weekend.

Consistently low temperatures have caused the ice to thicken in recent days and nights. In Vienna, hundreds of people spent the weekend skating on the Danube river. However, city authorities have urged people to be mindful of the risks - and have warned that none of the natural ice-skating surfaces in Vienna have received an official safety approval as the thickness of the ice has not been tested.

The MA 45 website (the city department responsible for Vienna waterways) warns that people should not underestimate the risk of skating on frozen rivers and lakes, “even on still waters like the Old and New Danube”. Ground water tributaries are still around 7C, even in extremely cold weather, making the ice cover deceptively thin. "Other risks include water level fluctuations as well as holes in the ice under bridges and around pillars," according to the MA 45.

Oh, that looks wonderful, LL!