Austria

The far-right Freedom party of Austria won country's parliamentary elections. Žiga Faktor, deputy director and head of the EUROPEUM Institute's Brussels office, commented for foreign desk broadcast on ČT24 on the results to the National Council, the lower house of parliament.

The historic success of the Freedom Party of Austria and the dramatic defeat of the ruling People's Party are the results of Sunday's Austrian National Council elections, according to the local media. The Social Democrats are likely to face another reboot and there is no room for small parties in parliament. On Monday night, the Austrian authorities officially published the results of the vote, which are being reported across Europe. Žiga Faktor, Deputy Director and head of Brussels office of EUROPEUM Institute commented for Czech TV.

Austria, led by the right-wing populist Freedom Party of Austria, could pose a problem for support for Ukraine, said Žiga Faktor, head of the Brussels office of EUROPEUM Institute, in an interview with ČTK. At the same time, he said, it would change the distribution of power within the European Council, specifically, the EU summits, where a strong group of prime ministers from the Patriots for Europe faction would be formed.

Germany wants to introduce checks at all its land borders for six months from September 16. The federal government wants to reduce illegal migration and increase security in the country. Germany will be able to refuse refugees at its borders. Austria has already announced that it will not accept any rejected migrants at its borders. Viktor Daněk, deputy director of EUROPEUM Institute, commented for the main evening news broadcast on TV Nova.

Join a debate organised by Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (ÖFZ/CFA) with Institut Montaigne in cooperation with EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy and other partners. The debate will take place on January 28 at 4 PM in Zoom, you have to register to be able to attend.

What was the reason for the loss of the Austrian populists FPÖ? Can the Austrian experience be transferred to other EU countries? What does the new coalition in Austria mean for the EU? Will Austria change it's relation to the Czech Republic and Central Europe?

On 16 January, Michal Vít was guest in Czech Radio Plus station's broadcast about V4 - Austria summit in Prague.

Vladimír Bartovic talked to iHNED.cz about a controversial step of the Austrain government, which may end up at Court of Justice of the European Union.

Jan Trojáček, in his new blog, focused on the Austrian parliamentary election and the future political development of the country.

Austria has announced plans to implement border controls at its shared border with Italy at the Brenner Pass. Alexandr Lagazzi analyses such move with regards to both Italy's and the Commission's reactions.