As Austria becomes the first European country to reintroduce lockdown, the people are taking to the streets in protest – and it’s not just far-right extremists, but families too, writes Melissa Eddy. Daniel Zeman wasn’t able to sell any of his handmade apple and ginger liqueur last year during the Christmas season because Austria, along with the rest of Europe, was in lockdown. He fina [...]

Follow RT to get the latest news and updates from Austria, including politics, culture, sport and weather. Austria is a country in Europe, the capital of which is Vienna. It has a border with, and is historically close to, Germany. Austria is one of the largest economies and world’s richest state by per capita in GDP terms. Find news on the economy, finance and market in Austria. [...]

Vienna refused to expel Russian diplomats not because it feared reprisal, but because it stands for open dialogue, Austria’s foreign minister said, decrying the UK’s attempts to lure the country into taking “certain measures.” Austria refrained from expelling Russian diplomats earlier this week, in contrast to its EU neighbors, who chose to rely on the UK’s assertion that Russia was behi [...]

The Western response to the Salisbury poison attack on ex-Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal is clear, but not unanimous. Austria, alongside some other European countries, has refused to expel Russian diplomats, though Vienna expressed "unqualified solidarity with the UK." The British ambassador to Austria repeatedly expressed a demarche to Vienna because of the Austrian side's refusal to [...]

Vienna chose not to expel Russian diplomats as a response to the poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal, saying it wants to keep dialogue with Moscow open. Some European opposition figures say the move will only create problems. Despite more than a dozen European nations expelling Russian diplomats over the Skripal case, not every nation or politician is on board. Dissenting voices are starting [...]

Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Germany, France, Denmark, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Canada, Romania, Finland, Croatia, Albania, Sweden, Spain and the US have decided to expel Russian diplomats amid the Skripal case. "We express a decisive protest over the decision taken by a number of EU and NATO countries to expel Russian diplomats. [...]

This is not the first episode involving the attaché, who has been summoned by Austria's Foreign Ministry, as he had previously posted a photo of his grandfather in a Nazi uniform with a swastika on social media. Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl has summoned Juergen-Michael Kleppich, an attaché from the country's embassy in Israel, "to clarify the circumstances and to submit to a legal pr [...]

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) congratulated Italy’s Lega party on achieving great results in the election, expressing hope that both parties would succeed in closing the Brenner Pass on the Italian-Austrian border, a migrant route in the eastern Alps, Roman Haider, the FPO’s foreign policy spokesman, told Sputnik on Monday. [...]

The 2015 migration crisis sparked an intense debate about the security situation in Austria, which is still acute in the country. Earlier in January, Austrian interior minister Herbert Kickl said that the government is going to tighten its asylum policy, citing the increased crime rate among asylum seekers last year as a reason for the decision. [...]

The number of crimes committed by “foreigners” in Austria increased to 40 percent of the total in 2016, a new government report says. Interior Minister Herbert Kickl says a “strict asylum policy” is needed to tackle the issue. [...]

While the German SPD and CSU parties are struggling to form a new grand coalition during tough negotiations, Austria has already successfully formed its new government despite the fact that Vienna held its parliamentary election three weeks after Berlin. [...]

The politician is notorious for her controversial statements on the migration crisis and her critical stance toward the EU. The Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be run by Middle East expert Karin Kneissl, who repeatedly criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel's policies, made tough statements regarding migration and called Jean-Claude Juncker "cynical" and "arrogant," according to the A [...]

According to the Austrian government’s program, Vienna vows to end Turkey’s EU membership negotiations. Ankara has expressed strong protest over the program of the new Austrian government that has vowed to halt Turkey’s EU accession negotiations, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. [...]

Hungary has signaled its readiness to develop closer ties with the new Austrian government. Speaking to Sputnik, Norbert Freiherr van Handel, a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, called for full-fledged cooperation between Vienna and the member states of what was once known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. [...]

Austria's 31-year old Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz is expected to become one of the youngest world leaders in modern history. In an interview with Sputnik, political analysts have described him as a very hard-working and charismatic person and shared their opinion on his personality. [...]

The resounding success of two anti-immigrant parties in the Austrian elections, with the right-wing Freedom Party (FPO) delivering one of the strongest performances in more than a decade, is a direct result of Europe’s open border policies, analysts say. According to the preliminary results published by the Austrian interior ministry, Kurz’s conservative People’s Party (OVP) has taken a clea [...]

Kurz was responsible for closing the Western Balkan immigration route, from Turkey to Germany and to Scandinavia, explains Werner Fasslabend of the Austrian Institute for European Policy & Security. Political scientist Heinz Gaertner also gives his insight. The results of Sunday's Austrian parliamentary elections show a clear shift to the right. [...]

“Revenge and political motives” drove a 54-year-old Tunisian immigrant to plot and execute the murder of an elderly Austrian couple over their alleged sympathy towards a far-right party, local police said. [...]

The very fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have held negotiations after a long hiatus is a positive signal, Russian academic Vadim Trukhachev told Radio Sputnik, adding that Merkel's visit to Sochi may have become a step toward lifting sanctions on Russia. [...]

The small city close to the border with Germany was named Austria’s most inspiring place to visit in a recent report. What is it that makes it so special? According to a recent report published by TravelBird, the most inspiring city in Austria isn’t the capital, Vienna, or even it’s second city Graz - it’s the town of Salzburg. [...]

If the US attacks a Syrian warplane in Syrian skies, it means an act of war. And the US should give an explanation for this, demands Aleksey Pushkov, the head of Russia's Communications Policy Committee. It also means the US wants a divided Syria, he adds. US attack on Syrian plane in Syrian sky is act of war – Russian senator Nach US-Abschuss von syrischem Jet: Russischer [...]

Austrian and Germany have lashed out at Washington over new sanctions against Russia that target the planned Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Europe. [...]