A look back into late autumn 2021: When the fourth corona wave was already particularly rampant in Austria in the second half of November, the center of Austrian domestic politics briefly shifted to the Tyrolean Achensee. At a crisis summit, the heads of the turquoise-green federal government decided all sorts of things together with the heads of the federal states: They said goodbye to the doctrine that ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz 'carelessly put into the world, according to which the pandemic was "mastered". A lockdown was decided to break the wave. And the political leaders agreed on a project that should finally free Austria from the Corona misery: A statutory vaccination requirement for everyone from February 1, 2022 should fix it. Austria seemed to be a European trendsetter,a role model for Germany too. (More here.)
Well, not even two months later, it is becoming apparent that the vaccination issue is not going as planned.
On the one hand, this is due to the virus that has mutated into the mega-infectious omicron variant and the (still) clearly limited effect of the vaccines.
On the other hand, it is apparently also largely due to actors in the Austrian federal government, above all to the Green Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein.
Last week he assured in an ORF interview that the "mandatory vaccination is coming soon".
Less than 24 hours later, the state-owned company responsible for implementing the project electronically declared the schedule obsolete.
Technically, the compulsory vaccination is only feasible in April, it said.
Complaints against the compulsory vaccination
How it came about: The government is said to have not consulted the company when drawing up a draft report, it is said.
Time was lost, because the programmers can only start their work when they have the law.
This embarrassment is mainly to be chalked up to Mückstein and his ministry.
Latest status: According to Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP), it is now possible to introduce compulsory vaccinations as early as February.
The project and its effects and side effects also affect other departments: Many citizens have filed complaints against the compulsory vaccination, but the judiciary does not see itself as staffed at all.
And what about the labor law dimension?
In general, the external image at the beginning of the year is miserable, especially when it comes to the pandemic.
Mückstein's top health officer raves about "contamination", the minister takes off the mask during a press conference and sneezes into his hand.
Federal Chancellor Nehammer (ÖVP) is also part of the communicative cacophony.
The head of government has himself photographed in a ski hut sitting close together in a beer-loving group of men.
The Chancellery assures us that the 2G rules have been complied with at the hut.
Nehammer was only infected with the corona virus later.
The effect of such images is likely to be devastating nonetheless.
Because: Why should the Austrians obey the rules of distance if the Federal Chancellor doesn't even do it?
FPÖ boss Herbert Kickl uses such government breakdowns to further heat up the mood against the corona measures. The protest on the street, which was shaped by radical rightists and other obscure figures, is repeatedly met with understanding from the security forces. Only at the weekend did a police officer pose for a photo with activists at a demonstration in Vienna - maskless. An open letter to the Minister of the Interior shows that skepticism is growing in the ranks of the civil servants. In it, 600 police officers urge their employer to prevent a general vaccination requirement.
In the shadow of the Omikron wave and the debate about compulsory vaccinations, dynamism comes into another domestic political issue: the election of the Federal President. The ballot box, in which the citizens vote directly on the head of state, does not take place until late autumn. But it is already publicly recommended and not publicly sampled. Candidates from the ranks of the conservative ÖVP and the social democratic SPÖ will probably only exist if the popular incumbent Alexander Van der Bellen does not run again.
The president is still keeping a low profile, but his candidacy is very likely.
There could be a new edition of the 2016 election, when the then FPÖ candidate Norbert Hofer was just inferior to the former head of the Greens.
Upon request, Hofer left it open whether he would compete again.
The current FPÖ boss Herbert Kickl could also run.
The hardliner would not have a chance of winning, but the prospect of a lot of attention and several minutes of television should be all too tempting.
Politics in Austria is always good for a surprise.
Social media moment of the week
The future activities of ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz made headlines since he left politics.
First, he declared that he worked for the controversial US entrepreneur Peter Thiel.
A few days ago a voluntary task was added: in future, British ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair will head a non-governmental organization that is fighting against anti-Semitism.
The satirical medium "Die Tagespresse" has given him another job: After Chancellor Karl Nehammer made his corona infection public, the portal tweeted in the style of a breaking news: "Nehammer in quarantine: Kurz takes over official business".
Kurz's fabulous return to the levers of power met with great approval on the internet.
However, some users did not seem to be sure whether the message was true: "I hope this is a joke, isn't it?" Tweeted a user.
Stories we recommend you today:
"Thiel can hardly lose with Kurz"
Why does a tech billionaire from Silicon Valley hire the former Austrian Chancellor?
Peter Thiel's biographer Max Chafkin sees Sebastian Kurz as a pawn in a political game.
An interview.
Ibiza mastermind fails with an arrest complaint
Julian H. has been in Austrian pre-trial detention for a year - despite contradicting witness statements.
Now H's request to switch from prison to electronically monitored house arrest for the duration of the trial has been denied.
The proceedings are not about his role in the Ibiza video, but about alleged drug offenses.
Austrian neo-Nazi accused of trafficking in weapons and drugs
Nehammer warned against right-wing militia - but there is no trace
of them. A year ago, Austrian investigators unearthed a huge arsenal.
The then interior minister and current chancellor Karl Nehammer initially claimed that a right-wing militia in Germany was to be armed with it - but nothing of this thesis can be found in the indictment that is available to SPIEGEL and STANDARD.
Vorarlberg head of government intervenes in the finance ministry to
governor Markus Wallner admits to have intervened in a tax matter in favor of the largest energy supplier in his state.
The cause will have consequences in the parliamentary committee of inquiry.
Mask requirement outdoors in Austria, 2G rule for Italy's ski lifts
Omikron has arrived in the Alps - and the Alpine countries are tightening their corona measures.
What winter vacationers need to know.
Get through the week safely!
Greetings from Vienna
Yours Oliver Das Gupta
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