Austria is tiring of its reputation as “the ashtray of Europe” — at least according to the results of a nationwide petition backing a ban on smoking in cafes and restaurants.
Pressure is mounting on Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) to drop its opposition to a referendum on the issue after the petition organized by Austria’s medical association garnered 881,569 signatures.
The result, which represents 14 percent of the electorate and more than 10 percent of the population overall, is the seventh-largest for a petition of its kind, according to public radio Oe1.
Photo: Bloomberg
Austria is one of the last European countries where smoking is still permitted in bars and restaurants, despite calls for bans dating back 13 years, prompting anti-smoking groups to dub it the “ashtray of Europe.”
That looked as though it would change in 2015, when the previous government — a “grand coalition” of the center-left Social Democrats (SPOe) and center-right People’s Party (OeVP) — voted through a ban that was meant to take effect in May this year.
However, after elections in October last year, the FPOe and its leader Heinz-Christian Strache — himself a keen smoker — made dropping the ban a condition of joining a coalition with the OeVP of Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
As a result, smoking in bars and restaurants stayed legal as long as it was done in a separate area — although this rule is not always rigidly implemented.
No separate area is necessary in establishments smaller than 50m2 if the owner is happy to allow smoking on the premises.
The situation is an “aberration” that is “contrary to the trend across the rest of the world,” according to the medical association, which said that 13,000 people die each year in Austria from smoking-related causes.
According to Eurostat, 30 percent of Austrians over the age of 15 smoke — the third-highest proportion in the EU — and it has some of the EU’s cheapest cigarettes.
The impressive level of support for the anti-smoking petition has put the FPOe in an awkward position: The party has said it is keen to promote “direct democracy,” but has consistently refused to entertain a referendum on the smoking issue.
“If the call for direct democracy is more than just an election campaign joke, the government has to allow a referendum,” new SPOe leader Pamela Rendi-Wagner said.
The FPOe has put its own gloss on the results of the petition.
The high level of participation “demonstrated a desire for more direct democracy among the population,” prominent FPOe lawmaker Walter Rosenkranz said.
At the same time, Strache said that “more than 85 percent” of voters did not sign the petition and that it had not achieved the threshold of 900,000, beyond which the party had promised a referendum at some point after 2021.
However, the Austrian press largely echoed the Kronen Zeitung tabloid when it said: “It will be difficult for the FPOe to explain why they’re not organizing a referendum straight away.”
Several prominent OeVP politicians have also come out in favor of a referendum, including the mayors of Graz and Salzburg.
Even though he was also part of the previous government that backed the law, Kurz has maintained a studied silence on the issue.
Strache, who is also Austrian vice chancellor, said the current setup maintains “freedom of choice” and protects “the interests of non-smokers, smokers and restaurateurs.”
However, a growing number of establishments are themselves becoming smoke-free.
The country’s Economic Chamber, which represents businesses, said that “not a single establishment set up this year has set aside a smoking area.”
Yemen’s separatist leader has vowed to keep working for an independent state in the country’s south, in his first social media post since he disappeared earlier this month after his group briefly seized swathes of territory. Aidarous al-Zubaidi’s United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces last month captured two Yemeni provinces in an offensive that was rolled back by Saudi strikes and Riyadh’s allied forces on the ground. Al-Zubaidi then disappeared after he failed to board a flight to Riyadh for talks earlier this month, with Saudi Arabia accusing him of fleeing to Abu Dhabi, while supporters insisted he was
‘SHOCK TACTIC’: The dismissal of Yang mirrors past cases such as Jang Song-thaek, Kim’s uncle, who was executed after being accused of plotting to overthrow his nephew North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has fired his vice premier, compared him to a goat and railed against “incompetent” officials, state media reported yesterday, in a rare and very public broadside against apparatchiks at the opening of a critical factory. Vice Premier Yang Sung-ho was sacked “on the spot,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency said, in a speech in which Kim attacked “irresponsible, rude and incompetent leading officials.” “Please, comrade vice premier, resign by yourself when you can do it on your own before it is too late,” Kim reportedly said. “He is ineligible for an important duty. Put simply, it was
The Chinese Embassy in Manila yesterday said it has filed a diplomatic protest against a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman over a social media post that included cartoonish images of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela and an embassy official had been trading barbs since last week over issues concerning the disputed South China Sea. The crucial waterway, which Beijing claims historic rights to despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, has been the site of repeated clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels. Tarriela’s Facebook post on Wednesday included a photo of him giving a
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday announced a deal with the chief of Kurdish-led forces that includes a ceasefire, after government troops advanced across Kurdish-held areas of the country’s north and east. Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said he had agreed to the deal to avoid a broader war. He made the decision after deadly clashes in the Syrian city of Raqa on Sunday between Kurdish-led forces and local fighters loyal to Damascus, and fighting this month between the Kurds and government forces. The agreement would also see the Kurdish administration and forces integrate into the state after months of stalled negotiations on
RSS