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TODAY IN AUSTRIA

Today in Austria: A round up of the latest news on Friday

Find out what's going on today in Austria with The Local's short roundup of the news.

Naschmarkt
A visitor walks past removed chairs at the 'Orient Accident' restaurant at Naschmarkt market in Vienna, Austria (Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP)

It’s decision day for Austria, with the federal government, states, municipalities and social partners meeting  to discuss the gradual easing of the corona measures announced by the government from mid-May.

READ MORE: Austria to open up mid May but will the green passport and Vienna be ready?

Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has promised everything from culture to sport, gastronomy and tourism will open up, but there will be strict conditions.

The opening commission will meet at 11am in the Federal Chancellery. There should be an announcement with more details by early afternoon.

READ MORE: Travel and testing in bars and restaurants, how Austria plans to open up in May

Another virus variant found in Tyrol

Tyrol is once again a hotspot for a new virus variant. The Wiener Zeitung newspaper reports there has been an increase in Covid-19 infections with a virus variant in which the so-called E484K mutation is present in addition to the B1.1.7 or British variant. B1.1.7 + E484K is likely to be even more contagious compared to B1.1.7, the paper reports.

Preliminary PCR tests have found 1,800 instances of this variant. Previously Tyrol was a European hotspot for the South African variant of the virus. Broadcaster ORF reports the mandatory exit test for Tyrol will be extended up to and including 5th May.

Better internet for Austria?

Austria has one of the slowest internet speeds in the EU, according to the Wiener Zeitung newspaper.

It reports €1.4billion is planned by the government to speed up the network, with €891 provided by EU funding. 

Wirecard revelations continue

More shocking revelations have come in the Wirecard scandal, which involve two Austrians at the highest level: Ex-managing director Markus Braun, who is in custody, and ex-board member Jan Marsalek, who has gone into hiding and has numerous connections in secret service circles according to broadcaster ORF.

The latest is a report in the Financial Times that Wirecard employees regularly looted millions of euros in cash out of the group’s Munich HQ, carrying out the cash in supermarket plastic bags.

10,000 deaths from coronavirus 

Austria has now sadly recorded 10,000 deaths from coronavirus, the Wiener Zeitung newspaper reports.

More unemployment benefits

Around 220,000 people without a job will benefit from the increase in emergency aid to the level of unemployment benefit decided by the National Council, which will come into effect retroactively from 1st April, the Wiener Zeitung newspaper reports.

Labor Minister Kocher gave more details on how he plans to get 50,000 long-term unemployed people  back to work by the end of 2022. The government will create incentives for employment with combined wage models.

Tax deferred for companies a further three months

It will be possible for companies to defer paying taxes for a further three months from July on request, with only a symbolic amount of 0.5 or 1% due in this period, the Wiener Zeitung newspaper reports.

The Chamber of Commerce [WKÖ] sees this as an “important partial success”, it reports. Otherwise, companies will have to repay taxes deferred in the pandemic from July. 

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TODAY IN AUSTRIA

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

Ministry of Integration to define 'Austrian culture', strike at Austrian Airlines, and more news from Austria on Thursday.

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

Ministry of Integration to define ‘Austrian culture’

Austria’s Integration Minister Susanne Raab (centre-right ÖVP) has been tasked by chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) to develop a definition of “Austrian culture” or “Austrian dominant culture” (Leitkultur).

The task is part of a point from the “Austria Plan” Nehammer presented earlier this year when he called for developing a “guiding Austrian culture by 2030, which should also be reflected in law as a national cultural asset”. It should ensure “that symbols and behaviours that contradict our fundamental values can be treated in a legally differentiated manner”.

Raab has convened a panel of experts to reflect the national cultural heritage in law within the next six years as a first step, which will meet on Thursday, Der Standard reported. Under the title “Austrian Identity and Guiding Culture: values of coexistence”, the first meeting will be an introductory exchange, according to Raab’s office.

Austrian Airlines strikes: Are the two sides any closer to a deal?

Austrian Airlines has cancelled 400 flights due to an upcoming scheduled strike as workers negotiate their collective agreements, but how close is a deal, and will there be more disruption in the coming weeks?

Strike by Austrian Airlines cabin crew has begun

Weeks of negotiations in 17 rounds have not paid off: At midnight, AUA onboard staff began a 36-hour strike. As a precautionary measure, the airline had previously cancelled 400 flights on Thursday and Friday. 

From the union’s point of view, an agreement in the dispute over the collective agreement for AUA flight personnel was still possible by midnight on Wednesday. However, the fronts were hardened, and passengers are paying the price: around 52,000 people were affected by the flight cancellations during the Easter travel period, broadcaster ORF reported.

Austrian Airlines is offering free cancellations and rebookings, and passengers should be actively informed. Vienna Airport also held out the prospect of free parking lot cancellation; passengers who had already departed were reimbursed the costs for the additional parking time by the airport after providing proof of the rebooking.

The head of the Vida trade union, Roman Hebenstreit, told Ö1 that he was very sorry about the situation for air travellers and wanted to “sincerely apologise”. However, AUA had “forced the workforce into the measure”.

The airline, on the other hand, speaks of the union’s exaggerated and unrealistic demands. It is offering an 18% pay rise for two years and even 28% for co-pilots—a calculation that the union criticises as insufficient.

Lufthansa ground staff strike cancelled

The dispute over the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for Lufthansa ground staff in Germany has been settled. Following successful mediation, the airline and the trade union ver.di have agreed on the main features of a new collective agreement for the approximately 25,000 employees, as announced yesterday evening in Frankfurt.

This means that strikes by this group of employees over the Easter vacations have been averted. In a ballot, over 90 percent of employees had already voted in favour of indefinite strikes.

Increased cooperation on migration issues with Italy announced

Italy and Austria want to work together even more closely in the area of migration in future and, in particular, further intensify cooperation with third countries, Austrian media reported. 

This is an “enormously important concern” for him, which he wants to promote at the European level, said Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) at a joint press conference with his Italian counterpart Matteo Piantedosi in Vienna yesterday.

With Denmark as host, Austria is organising a conference at the beginning of May for countries that can imagine migration deals with third countries – similar to the one between Italy and Albania – for their country. According to information from the Ministry of the Interior, the conference on May 6 in Copenhagen will be attended by interested EU countries, the EU Commission, and selected third countries.

Karner cited Rwanda (Great Britain is planning an asylum pact with the East African country) and the migration agreement between Italy and Albania, ratified by the Tirana parliament in February, as role models.

When asked which country he could imagine such an agreement with, the Minister of the Interior did not want to make any concrete statements. However, he did say that “more and more countries” wanted to take similar steps, but the legal framework had not yet been established.

If you have any questions about life in Austria, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at [email protected] or leave a comment below.

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