Austria

VIENNA (AP) — Austria has come under heavy criticism for granting visas that will allow sanctioned Russian lawmakers to attend a Vienna meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The issue highlights the delicate balancing act the European country has engaged in while trying to maintain its longstanding position of military neutrality during the war in Ukraine. The Austrian government has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine almost a year ago but also stressed the need to maintain diplomatic relations with Moscow.

VIENNA (AP) — Austria’s government said Thursday that it has ordered four Russian diplomats based in Vienna, including two at Moscow’s mission to U.N. agencies in the city, to leave the country.

The Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement that two diplomats at the Russian Embassy had “engaged in acts incompatible with their diplomatic status” and two at the permanent mission to the United Nations in Vienna “committed acts incompatible with the Headquarters Agreement.” It didn’t elaborate.

The diplomats were given a week to leave Austria.

30 Jan 2023; MEMO: An OPEC+ panel is likely to recommend keeping the oil producer group's current output policy unchanged when it meets this week, five OPEC+ delegates told Reuters on Monday.

Ministers from OPEC+ countries – members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and others, including Russia – are due to hold a virtual meeting at 1100 GMT on 1 February, Reuters reports.

VIENNA, Jan 27 (NNN-XINHUA) – Austrian President, Alexander Van der Bellen, was sworn in yesterday, inaugurating his second six-year term.

Van der Bellen won the presidential election in Oct last year, with 56.7 percent of the vote. He has served as Austrian president since 2017.

“I will fulfill my duty to the best of my knowledge and belief,” the 79-year-old said, in his inaugural address, at the Austrian parliament in Vienna, yesterday.

VIENNA, Dec 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Major oil-producing countries led by Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to maintain their current output levels in a climate of uncertainty and ahead of fresh sanctions against Moscow coming into force next week.

The representatives of the 13 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) led by Riyadh, and their 10 allies headed by Moscow, decided to stick to their course agreed in October of a production cut of two million barrels per day until the end of 2023.

VIENNA, Nov 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN nuclear watchdog’s board of governors passed a resolution on Thursday expressing “grave concern” that Russia had not heeded calls to cease actions against nuclear facilities in war-torn Ukraine.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-nation board of governors urged Moscow “to abandon its baseless claims of ownership of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant”.

VIENNA, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The U.N. atomic watchdog's 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution on Thursday ordering Iran to cooperate urgently with the agency's investigation into uranium traces found at three undeclared sites, diplomats at the closed-door vote said.

The resolution drafted by the United States, Britain, France and Germany says the board "decides it is essential and urgent" that Iran explain the origin of the uranium particles and more generally give the International Atomic Energy Agency all the answers it requires.

VIENNA, November 3. /TASS/: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found no indications of undeclared nuclear activities at three Ukrainian facilities, the agency said in a statement on Twitter on Thursday.

"IAEA inspectors have completed in-field verification activities at three locations in Ukraine at the request of the Ukrainian government - found no indications of undeclared nuclear activities and materials," the tweet reads.

VIENNA, Oct 24 (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog is preparing to send inspectors in the coming days to two Ukrainian sites at Kyiv's request, it said on Monday, in an apparent reaction to Russian claims that Ukraine could deploy a so-called dirty bomb, which Ukraine denies.

The International Atomic Energy Agency's announcement followed statements by a senior Russian officer that two institutes in Ukraine linked to the nuclear industry were engaged in preparations to produce such a bomb. "Dirty bombs" are laced with nuclear material.

VIENNA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Inflation continues to surge in Austria, reaching 10.5 percent in September, the highest level since July 1952, Statistics Austria said on Wednesday.

The September inflation rate was 1.2 percentage points above that registered in August and exceeded the high inflation levels "during the oil crisis in the 1970s," Statistics Austria said in a statement.

Tobias Thomas, director general of Statistics Austria, said soaring household energy and fuel prices were the strongest drivers of inflation in September.