Austria p***es 2025/26 budget amid deficit warning, Austrian man arrested for upskirting in Spain, and Vienna universities drop in global rankings—plus more stories from Austria on Friday.
Austria p***es double budget despite looming EU deficit procedure
The National Council approved Austria’s 2025/26 double budget on Wednesday, with only the SPÖ, conservative ÖVP and liberal NEOS voting in favour, as reported by ORF. The budget projects a general government deficit of 4.5 percent this year and 4.2 percent in 2026, exceeding the EU’s 3 percent threshold and likely triggering a deficit procedure.
Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer of the centre-left SPÖ defended the plan, saying Austria would return to compliance with EU rules by 2028. The package also included major pension reforms and sparked criticism over the suspension of inflation-linked adjustments to family benefits. FPÖ, the right-wing Freedom Party, predicted a downgrade in Austria’s credit rating, while the Greens criticised cuts to climate programmes.
Ministers’ social media posts to be exempt from donation rules
Austria’s main parties have introduced a draft law to clarify the use of social media accounts by government ministers, following penalties issued by the Independent Party Transparency Senate (UPTS), according to a Der Standard report.
Under the proposed changes, staff from ministers’ offices can contribute to official accounts without it counting as a party donation, as long as the content is clearly non-partisan and separate from party messaging.
The move comes after recent UPTS rulings found several parties—including the ÖVP, NEOS and Greens—in breach of current transparency rules. Lawmakers say the reform will establish clearer, legally sound boundaries between official and political communication on platforms like Instagram and Facebook.
Austrian universities fall in global rankings
Nearly all Austrian universities dropped in the latest QS World University Rankings for 2026, with the University of Vienna falling to 152nd place, down from 137th last year, as Der Standard reported. TU Wien also slid to 197th, and the University of Innsbruck dropped from 309th to 350th.
The main cause of the decline was lower scores in employer reputation surveys and employment outcomes. The only university to slightly improve was the University of Graz. MIT in the United States retained the top spot, followed by Imperial College London and Stanford University.
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Austrian man arrested in Mallorca over upskirting incident
A 32-year-old Austrian man was arrested in Mallorca after allegedly photographing under a woman’s skirt at a nightclub on Playa de Palma, according to a Der Standard report.
Doormen at the club witnessed and filmed the act before calling the police. The man is being held in custody while awaiting a court appearance.
Spanish police confirmed the man faces charges of ***ual aggression, which carries a penalty of up to four years in prison. The woman filed a complaint and requested the deletion of the images from his phone. It remains unclear whether the man was a tourist or resident.
Man arrested after weapons scare during Feldkirchen procession
A Cobra police unit launched a major operation in Feldkirchen an der Donau on Thursday morning after reports of a man with a pistol in a garden, as ORF reported. The alert coincided with a Corpus Christi procession in the area, prompting heightened concern.
Police used helicopters, drones and sniffer dogs to search the area. The suspect eventually emerged from a thicket and surrendered without resistance. He was arrested and later transferred to a psychiatric hospital. The weapon was subsequently recovered.
65-year-old drowns in the New Danube
A man died while swimming in the New Danube near Vienna’s Kaisermühlen Bridge on Wednesday evening, according to ORF.
Emergency services were called at 7.30 pm, and divers recovered the man’s body, but resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.
The 65-year-old is believed to have drowned while attempting to swim back to the riverbank. The medical examiner confirmed drowning as the cause of death.
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Knife violence flares up again in Vienna-Favoriten
Two separate knife attacks occurred on Wednesday in the weapons ban zone in Vienna’s 10th district, Favoriten, as Die Presse reported.
In the first incident at 2:30 pm on Keplerplatz, a 38-year-old man was stabbed in the thigh by an acquaintance. A 19-year-old suspect was arrested nearby.
Later, at 6:30 pm on Senefelderg***e, a group of men attacked two others. A 26-year-old was stabbed in the hand and arm, while a 19-year-old was injured by broken gl*** after being pushed into a shop window. Police are still searching for the suspects in the second incident.
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