Austrian Parliament

Bulgaria does not expect today to receive a response from Austria regarding the lifting of the veto against the country's entry into Schengen. This was stated by Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov before his meetings today in the Austrian Parliament, and later with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer.

Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov is leaving today for his first official visit to Vienna in an attempt to change Austria's decision to block Bulgaria's membership in the Schengen area. Talks with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer and meetings in the Austrian Parliament are planned.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with Austrian Parliament Speaker Wolfgang Sobotka on Wednesday, noting that Austria is an important partner of Serbia in various fields, especially in economic cooperation, which he said was expected to strengthen further.

VIENNA  - Serbian FM Ivica Dacic, who is visiting Austria, met with OSCE Secretary-General Helga Schmidt in Vienna on Wednesday.

Prior to the meeting with Schmidt, Dacic spoke with Austrian Parliament Speaker Wolfgang Sobotka, and his visit to Austria will be concluded with a meeting with FM Alexander Schallenberg.

Shallenberg, in his address to the foreign policy committee of the Austrian Parliament, said that after the new escalation, it became clear that a peaceful solution is further than ever.
He also pointed out that a solution can only be reached at the negotiating table, adding that it is dangerous to reject a request for a truce as a ridiculous thing.

The lower house of the Austrian parliament (National Council) has approved a bill on mandatory vaccination against COVID-19, world agencies reported.

The Austrian government has presented a bill on mandatory vaccination against COVID-19

The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that the time had come for the European Union to consider mandatory vaccination of the entire population, Euronews reports.

A bill to introduce compulsory vaccination against Covid-19 in Austria provides for a fine for refusing vaccination of up to 7,200 euros, the Austrian newspaper Die Presse reported, citing a document developed by the Austrian government.

Ljubljana/Vienna – The Covid-19 epidemic cannot be an excuse for the undermining of democracy, said parliamentary Speaker Igor Zorčič on Tuesday as he attended the fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Vienna. Zorčič participated in a panel on efforts to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on democracy.

The World Jewish Congress, an international organisation representing Jewish communities, praised on Monday the Austrian parliament's adoption of a proposed ban on the annual commemoration of the killings of Croatian Nazi-allied troops and civilians at Bleiburg in Austria by the Yugoslav Partisans at the end of World War II.