Enlarge image
Armed Forces of Austria (symbol image)
Photo: Georg Hochmuth/ dpa
A soldier with NS sympathies caused widespread horror in Austria and a planned change in the law.
The 36-year-old sergeant was sentenced to ten months' probation and a fine under the Nazi Prohibition Act in the summer after he posed in an SS uniform and gave the Hitler salute.
An additional disciplinary procedure ended with another fine, but the man was allowed to continue working in the army.
On Friday, the government then announced that in future any conviction under the Nazi Prohibition Act would automatically lead to expulsion from public service.
»Any form of Nazi glorification is an intolerable attack on our democratic society.
There can be zero tolerance," wrote Justice Minister Alma Zadic (Greens) on Twitter.
Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, as the supreme commander of the federal army, and other politicians had previously expressed their horror that the non-commissioned officer was still on duty, albeit in a non-military function.
czl/dpa
