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EU Parliament elects Lunacek as VP

The Austrian Greens EU MP Ulrike Lunacek has been elected as vice president of the European Parliament.

Published: 2 July 2014 09:44 CEST
EU Parliament elects Lunacek as VP
Ulrike Lunacek. Photo: APA

In the third round of voting the 57-year-old achieved the required majority among the 751 delegates on Tuesday. This means that Lunacek, who gained a seat in parliament in 2009, is the highest ranked Austrian MP in the EU.

The European Parliament chose the German Social Democrat Martin Schulz as its president for another two and half years. Besides Lunacek 13 other vice presidents were elected.

Lunacek was nominated by the Greens faction in the European parliament (EFA/European Free Alliance) to run against Schulz.

However, she was not able to win as Schulz was backed not only by his Social Democrats but also by the conservative European People's Party and the liberal faction.

The Greens had criticized this as a "backroom deal". Lunacek said that her main priority as vice president would be to urge for more transparency and compel lobbyists to register officially.

Lunacek is Austria's first openly gay politician, and was recently attacked at Vienna's gay pride parade by someone spraying acid – but was luckily not injured. 

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POLITICS

Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank replaces ‘misleading’ Russia job ads

Austria's Raiffeisen Bank said on Tuesday that it was replacing job ads that contained 'misleading wording' implying the bank was expanding its operations in Russia.

Published: 17 April 2024 14:52 CEST
Austria's Raiffeisen Bank replaces 'misleading' Russia job ads

The bank has vowed to reduce its business in Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 but has so far not sold or spun off its Russian unit.

The Financial Times on Tuesday said it had found dozens of postings for Russia-based jobs, touting its growth plans in the country.

One of the job postings said the bank was “looking for a client manager who will attract clients,” the paper reported.

“The quotes from the job advertisements do not reflect the measures taken by Raiffeisen Bank International to date to reduce its Russian business, nor do they correspond to the further plans for the Russian business,” the bank said in a statement sent to AFP.

It added to be able to sell Raiffeisenbank Russia — the biggest Western bank still in Russia — “job positions that are necessary for functioning banking operations will continue to be filled or refilled”, but they are “not related to business growth”.

“The very few job ads which contained old and misleading wording are/will be replaced.” the bank said.

Raiffeisen Bank International said in its annual report for 2023 that it had made 2.4 billion euros ($.2.6 billion) in net profits. It paid 464 million euros in income tax in Russia.

The group announced in December an agreement with Austrian construction company Strabag, involving Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who is under Western sanctions.

The deal to try to recover assets frozen in Russia before selling or spinning off Raiffeisenbank Russia has drawn the US authorities’ scrutiny.

A senior US Treasury official — in Austria in March to discuss sanctions against Russia — met Raffeisen Bank International officials in Vienna to discuss the bank’s business in Russia.

Last year, a Czech rights group filed a criminal complaint against the bank’s Czech and Austrian units, claiming the bank is financing terrorism with its activities in Russia.

Raiffeisenbank has been in Russia since 1996 and employs more than 9,000 people there.

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