News Briefs

Former ministers may no longer travel on diplomatic passports, APA reported in Jan.

Under new regulations, diplomatic passports are reserved for senior politicians and career diplomats, granting special rights such as a visa-free entry into certain countries. 

With the amendment, the government was reacting to public criticism of the privileges of former ministers and their families. 

As of Jan., the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) has been charging user fees to all households that are technically able to receive its radio and television channels. 

The move means that households can no longer sidestep the broadcasting licence fee even if they do not use their TV or radio connections. 

Despite mounting protest over the choice of date – 27 Jan., the day the Nazi death camp Auschwitz was liberated – the annual ball of the Wiener Korporations-Ring (WKR), an ultra-right-wing student association, was planning to go ahead when the VR went to press. 

Committed to Their Own Clientele
by Ralf Leonhard

If one accepts the international financial markets’ rules of play, then a reaction to the crisis symptoms would have been necessary much sooner. 

The More Ridiculous the General, the More Independent the ORF
by Michael Fleischhacker

To sum up: The more the director general makes a fool of himself, the more independent is the ORF. 

The Brazenness Before the Fall
by Bernhard Lichtenberger

Niko Pelinka threw in the towel, and his not-to-be boss Alexander Wrabetz waved the white flag of capitulation. 

A ground-breaking media experiment implemented in Slovakia has also found an audience in Slovenia.

On 16 Jan. Slovakian company Piano Media launched a system by which internet users pay €4,89 per month, or €48,90 per year, for complete access to the content of eight major media outlets in Slovenia, including the country’s leading newspaper Delo, the sports daily Eikpa, the car magazine Autobild, and various regional publications.

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has backed down from a proposal to merge the country’s central bank with the financial regulator, diffusing a standoff between his government and the European Union (EU).

After Hungary’s new constitution came into effect on 1 Jan., the EU Commission threatened legal action against three infractions of European law: a new central bank law susceptible to political control, judicial reforms forcing hundreds of judges into early retirement, and doubts over the new data protection ombudsman.

Al Jazeera, a television news broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar, launched a Balkans service on 11 Nov.