News from Austria

Van der Bellen sworn in as the 12th President of Austria amid government wobbles.

Alexander Van der Bellen, who beat the far-right candidate in a presidential election thriller last year, was sworn in on Thursday just as speculation raged about the future of Austria's government.

Van der Bellen, 73, narrowly won a run-off against Norbert Hofer from the Freedom Party (FPÖ) in May, but the anti-immigration party got the result annulled due to procedural irregularities.

A re-run set for October had to be postponed because of faulty glue on postal votes and after an ugly and divisive campaign Van der Bellen finally won the largely ceremonial, but coveted presidency on December 4th.

Hofer, 45, who like similar politicians in Europe -- and Donald Trump in the United States -- stoked concerns about immigration and security, would have been the first far-right president in the European Union.

The victory of the professorial Van der Bellen, who was backed by the ecologist Greens but ran as an independent, was greeted with relief by centrist parties in Austria and around Europe.

But the "grand coalition" of Austria's Chancellor Christian Kern, comprising his centre-left Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the centre-right People's Party (ÖVP), remains under severe pressure.

Speculation has been heightened that the coalition may throw in the towel and call early elections, as the FPÖ has been topping national opinion polls. There has also been public squabbling this week within the coalition, that is due to rule until late 2018.

"I promise to follow faithfully the constitution and all laws of the republic and to fulfil my role to the best of my knowledge and conscience," Van der Bellen said in a ceremony in parliament.

Van der Bellen was born during World War II in Vienna to an aristocratic Russian father and an Estonian mother who fled Stalinism.

The arrival of the Red Army a year later forced the family to escape to the southern state of Tyrol, where Van der Bellen spent an "idyllic childhood".

During Thursday's ceremony, Van der Bellen referred to himself as a "refugee baby" and said that he was "very moved to stand before you as your president". He went on to call Austria a "land of unlimited possibilities".

I am sure Austrians will be thrilled at the prospect of yet another election...

Further to gas explosion story I posted up yesterday:
Tenant arrested on suspicion of causing deadly explosion.
A 55-year-old man has been arrested in Vienna, on suspicion of deliberately causing a gas explosion in a residential building in the 17th district in which one person died.

The man had lived in the rented apartment in the building on Hernalser Hauptstrasse since 1983. He had not paid any rent for a year and was due to be evicted on Thursday. Police believe he may have deliberately caused the explosion which caused parts of the building to collapse and a fire to break out.

http://www.thelocal.at/20170127/tenant-arrested-on-suspicion-of-causing-deadly-explosion

Study: Religion more important than law to refugees.

Almost half of refugees think religious law is more important than the laws of the country in which they live, a study found.
The study in Austria found that 40 percent of migrants thought religion always took precedence over secular laws. A similar percentage were found to think that Western people are too liberal in their lifestyles and have too much freedom.
http://www.thelocal.at/20170127/study-religion-more-important-than-law-to-refugees
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Germany Braces For Fresh Refugee Influx From Austria

German police are doubling their presence on the Austrian border, bracing for an expected wave of refugees.
German media say authorities they fear a "permanent refugee influx" and have already drafted plans to tighten up the border with Austria, through which the bulk of the newcomers arrived at the height of the refugee crisis.
http://www.thelocal.at/20170127/germany-braces-for-fresh-refugee-influx-from-austria
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Driver, 97, Smashes Into Shop After Confusing Pedals.

A 97-year-old drove his car through a shop window after mistaking the accelerator pedal for the brake.
The accident happened in Mistelbach, a town 25 miles to the north-east of Austrian capital Vienna.
Shortly before 12.30pm, the elderly driver tried to park his green Citroen in one of several parking spaces in front of a furniture shop.
But instead he drove straight over the pavement and crashed into the shop’s display window.
http://www.thelocal.at/20170127/driver-97-smashes-into-shop-after-confusing-pedals
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Hotel ransomed by hackers as guests locked in rooms.

One of Europe's top hotels has admitted they had to pay thousands in Bitcoin ransom to cybercriminals who managed to hack their electronic key system, locking hundreds of guests in or out of their rooms until the money was paid.

Furious hotel managers at the Romantik Seehotel Jaegerwirt, a luxurious 4-star hotel with a beautiful lakeside setting on the Alpine Turracher Hoehe Pass in Austria, said they decided to go public with what happened to warn others of the dangers of cybercrime.
And they said they wanted to see more done to tackle cybercriminals as this sort of activity is set to get worse. The hotel has a modern IT system which includes key cards for hotel doors, like many other hotels in the industry.
http://www.thelocal.at/20170128/hotel-ransomed-by-hackers-as-guests-locked-in-rooms

I have put this here as it mainly affects Austria. LL

US suspends immigration program helping non-Muslim Iranians.

VIENNA (AP) January 28, 2017 — Austria has shut its door to about 300 non-Muslim Iranians hoping to use the country as a way station before establishing new homes in the United States, The Associated Press has learned. The action is an early ripple effect of U.S. President Donald Trump's effort to clamp down on refugee admissions.

Under a 27-year-old program originally approved by Congress to help Jews in the former Soviet Union, Austria had been serving until recently as a conduit for Iranian Jews, Christians and Baha'i, who were at risk in their home country and eligible to resettle in the United States. Iran has banned the Baha'i religion, which was founded in 1844 by a Persian nobleman considered a prophet by followers.

U.S. officials had been interviewing the candidates in Austria because they cannot do so in Iran. But the United States suspended the so-called "Iranian Lautenberg Program" in recent days, according to Austrian officials, who in turn stopped Iranians from reaching their territory. It's unclear when the program might restart.

https://www.mail.com/int/news/us/4930888-us-suspends-immigration-program-helping-non-muslim.html#.1258-stage-hero1-5

IMO, that will be sorted out fairly quickly, LL, as President Trump has already announced that Christian Syrians will be fast tracked into the US:

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/01/trump-says-syrian-christian-refugees-will-given-priority/

My view all along has been that Christians and other minorities, who are in real danger from the crazies, should have been given refugee status ASAP.

They are not only no danger to us, they tend to integrate seamlessly, unlike those mentioned in your earlier post:



Almost half of refugees think religious law is more important than the laws of the country in which they live, a study found.
The study in Austria found that 40 percent of migrants thought religion always took precedence over secular laws. A similar percentage were found to think that Western people are too liberal in their lifestyles and have too much freedom.

If they don't like 'Western lifestyles', I suggest they take themselves off to Saudi Arabia or Iran....

I am with you on that all the way.

[quote="Lamplighter"]

Study: Religion more important than law to refugees.

Almost half of refugees think religious law is more important than the laws of the country in which they live, a study found.
The study in Austria found that 40 percent of migrants thought religion always took precedence over secular laws. A similar percentage were found to think that Western people are too liberal in their lifestyles and have too much freedom.
http://www.thelocal.at/20170127/study-religion-more-important-than-law-to-refugees
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This article seems to have disappeared, so here is the rest of it from the cache :

One in five even said women should not be allowed to work.

Four out of five refugees said they agree with the equality of men and women, but they wanted to see Muslim women covering up in Austria. Some 37 percent said they wanted separate gymnastics and swimming lessons for boys and girls in schools.

A total of 61 percent of the refugees claimed to be religious, with about 30 percent praying five times or more a day. While 83 percent said they happily coexist with other religions, 45 percent said that other religions are not equal to Islam.
According to the study, refugees accept the freedoms of the Austrian legal state as an abstract principle, but reject it for themselves.  The study had been commissioned by Austria's Integration ministry.

Questioners interviewed 900 Syrian, Afghan, and Iraqi refugees in Austria to find the shocking results.

Sebastian Kurz, Austria's 30-year-old Minister for Foreign Affairs and Integration, commented on the survey results just after he visited an integration course for refugees.

He said: "Refugees have not yet internalised many values."

The conservative minister spoke of a "major challenge" in the integration process.

He highlighted the importance of such measures as the integration course he had just visited, saying it was important to show basic values and to "clearly define borders".

He said: "If there are violations against our laws or against our basic values, we do not react with exaggerated tolerance, but show that the regulations in Austria must be strictly adhered to."

Kurz said that many new proposals would "hopefully soon be decided in integration laws". This includes among other measures, a compulsory non-profit employment for refugees (1-euro-per-hour-jobs), a ban on full-face veils such as the burka and a ban on Quran distribution projects by Salafists.

But he admitted that some of his proposed ideas still have to be agreed to by his Social-Democratic coalition partners, who still object to a burka ban and compulsory low-wage employment.

By Koen Berghuis / Story Courtesy of Central European News

Thanks, Max. I get the news very early in the morning so sometimes it has been removed later in the day. LL

That's an interesting piece, and the percentages are pretty much in line with other surveys - I recall one done in the UK with similar results.

US travel ban strands 30 Iranians in Austria.

Austria said Monday that Washington has suspended a programme that has allowed thousands of persecuted Iranian Christians and Jews to pass though the European country on their way to setting in the US.
http://www.thelocal.at/20170130/us-muslim-ban-strands-30-iranians-in-austria
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Austria moves to ban full-face veil.

Austria's chancellor said Monday he will seek to ban full-face veils in public, as part of a wide-ranging government programme aimed at fending off the challenge of the far-right.

"The full-face veil will be banned in public spaces," Christian Kern said after ministers signed off on the new programme of policies set to be implemented over the coming 18 months.

There was no mention of a headscarf ban for civil servants but the text said that state representatives must "present themselves as religiously neutral".
http://www.thelocal.at/20170130/austria-moves-to-ban-full-face-veils

This may sound odd, but I am none too convinced Iranians of any faith should be caught up in this travel ban. I know Iran is a theocracy, but they are semi-democratic, and they are Shia.

Iran's involvement in the Middle East seems to have little to do with forcing their religious views on other people, and a great deal to do with good, old-fashioned geo-politics, an entirely different matter. They don't seem to have been infected with this horrible Saudi-backed Wahhabism, which IMO is little more than a nihilist death cult, and extremely dangerous for that reason.

The whole thing needs sorted out properly. I can't imagine why anyone would object to Christians or Jews being given almost automatic refugee status. Cuba also needs sorted, as one of Obama's final petulant acts was to tear up long-standing rules on Cuban refugees.


And good for Austria!

Deleted

Teenagers sentenced for gang rape attack in Vienna.

Three teenage asylum seekers have received jail sentences in a high profile rape trial in Vienna. Two 18-year-olds were sentenced to six years in prison and a 16-year-old to five years.

The trio - who are all from Afghanistan - raped a 21-year-old student in a public toilet in Vienna’s Praterstern station last year.

The maximum sentence the judge could have given the teenagers, who were all under-18 at the time of the attack, was seven and a half years.

The Turkish student had been out with a friend when she stopped at the station to use the public toilet but was followed into the cubicle by the three teenagers. The youngest boy held her down whilst the two older boys raped her.

State prosecutor Katharina Stauber said that the crime was premeditated, with the trio waiting at the station for a victim, and that they had behaved in a particularly brutal manner towards her and should be punished accordingly.

The young woman has since returned to Turkey and still suffers psychological trauma. Stauber said that she can’t even talk about what happened to her as it is considered ‘shameful’ in her home country.

The teenagers remained expressionless during their sentencing. The two younger boys apologised to the victim, with the 16-year-old saying that he didn’t know how he could make up for what he had done.

Poor girl; her life is as good as over, in that culture.

Good to see the court didn't make any excuses for the rapists' vile behaviour, as has happened elsewhere.

I do hope everyone is coming to their senses?

Austrian terror suspect 'planned to bomb Ramstein Air Base'.
A 17-year-old suspected Islamic extremist who was arrested in Vienna planned to set off a pipe bomb near Ramstein Air Base in Germany but changed his mind because he didn’t want to “kill so many people,” according to a report in the weekly newspaper Falter.

The teenager, identified only as Lorenz K., reportedly told police of the plan after he was arrested in Vienna on January 20th.

Falter said it had obtained a transcript of the youth’s questioning. Austria’s Interior Ministry and German police have refused to comment on the report.

http://www.thelocal.at/20170202/austrian-terror-suspect-planned-to-set-off-bomb-at-ramstein-air-base

It's like a plague.

SIGH

In 2014 there were several arrests during the protest.

Part of Vienna’s 1st district will be off-bounds to the public this evening, as demonstrators gather to protest against the controversial Akademikerball (Academics Ball) taking place in the Hofburg palace.

The yearly event is organised by the anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPÖ) and is a known gathering place for Austrian and German nationalist student fraternity members, some of whom are described as right-wing extremists.

An area around Heldenplatz will be closed off from 5pm, with a total of 2,700 police officers on duty in the centre of the city - where around 2,000 demonstrators are expected to gather under the slogan “Offensive against the Right”.

Those who are not attending the ball or the demonstration are advised to avoid the city centre in the late afternoon and evening. The demonstration begins at around 5.30pm, setting off from the university and ending at Stephansplatz - and there may be some temporary disruptions to traffic along the route. The tram lines 1, 2, 62, 71, D as well as the Baden train may be redirected or disrupted. The Wiener Linien recommends using the U-Bahn where possible and avoiding getting out in the centre of the city - where there may be police barriers.

The Vienna State Opera will also be affected by the police barriers - people will only be allowed access to the opera with a valid ticket or booking confirmation for this evening’s performance of Tosca. Access to the box office for last minute tickets or standing tickets cannot be guaranteed, according to the State Opera.

This seems to be the way of it with the Left these days - if they don't agree with someone, they don't discuss or debate, they just shout and scream in the streets and inconvenience other people.

Which is, of course, totally counter-productive.

Armed robber turns out to be victim's own son.

Police in Vienna have arrested an 18-year-old man who together with a friend robbed his own mother during an armed burglary in January.

The 18-year-old and his 23-year-old friend were masked and armed with what appeared to be pistols when they rang the doorbell of the woman’s apartment at around 1.30pm on January 12th in the Donaustadt district.

When the 35-year-old woman opened the door they pushed their way into the apartment, ignoring her screams. The woman grabbed the younger man and tried to push him out of the door and they both fell to the ground during the struggle. Meanwhile the 23-year-old man snatched an inexpensive decorative sword from off the wall, and then both of the men fled.

Police spokesman Patrick Maierhofer said that the woman had suspicions that her son was involved and this was confirmed during the investigation. The 18-year-old was arrested eight days later and the 23-year-old was arrested on February 2nd.

“Both men have a guilty conscience and confessed to everything immediately,” Maierhofer said. The men said they planned to steal money from the woman’s apartment. It’s not clear if they had real guns or replicas, as the weapons have not yet been found. The older man couldn’t explain why he had grabbed the sword, and told police that he was drunk at the time.

he was drunk at the time

I think that explains everything.....

Austrian pensioner terrorizes German motorists with fake police stunt.

German police faced one of their more unusual call-outs on Thursday when reports emerged of an Austrian pensioner causing mayhem on the motorway - with fake police equipment.

German motorists near the Bavarian city of Augsburg were puzzled on Thursday by a black Volvo posing as a police car. The vehicle was using a fake police light, flashers and an alarm horn to move faster along roadways as he hassled other drivers by tailgating them, according to a police report.

Several people called the real police to complain about the Volvo.

Officers were able to find the culprit behind the mayhem at a parking lot. Their faux officer turned out to be a a 73-year-old Austrian with an LED flashing light installed in the car.

The Austrian was released by police after paying a €500 bail.

I suppose, these days, its a relief when the culprit turns out to be a plain, old-fashioned idiot. Or a drunk.