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Maruška Strah

Stories from Maruška Strah

EU? Austria Not So Sure
More support it, but more have also decided against it
Vera Mair
Dardis McNamee
Maruška Strah
14/05/2009

One month before the elections for the European Union Parliament, knowledge about the EU is more important than ever. The issues on the main agenda will influence everyone’s lives in both new and old member states. However, a widespread lack of information among Austrians about the EU – both programs and powers – appears to translate into a deep skepticism towards the Union and its bodies.

Tagebuch
Dear Diary,
Maruška Strah
18/02/2009

I was standing in line at the doctor's office, when I saw an old Austrian couple squeezing past a Muslim woman, who had apparently recently immigrated and spoke only a little German. His case was urgent, the man insisted, and he needed to get to the front of the line. Then, to convince her, took her hips in his hands to show her where it hurt.

The Muslim woman, astonished by his tactlessness, tried to explain that she had come first; if it was so urgent he should have been there 'pünktlich' (on time).

The man's wife had to intervene: The woman had mispronounced the word.

Deputy provincial governor Gerhard Dörfler, Mayor Josef Jury, Dr. Jörg Haider, Mayor Josef Pleikner and Provincinal councillor Ing. Reinhart Rohr
More (or Less) of the Same In Carinthia
“A profound uncertainty clouds Austria’s southern most province”
Maruška Strah
13/12/2008


 

Voices of Freedom
Looking for solutions in Eastern European media
Maruška Strah
02/12/2008

On October 23rd, Ivo Pukanic the owner of the Croatian weekly Nacional died when a bomb exploded in his car in Zagreb, in the courtyard of the newspaper building. According to BBC Balkans correspondent Helen Fawkes, the car bomb followed a string of attacks in Zagreb that have been linked to organised crime.

Pukanic is one of thirty-seven journalists who have died trying to rout out corruption in the region during last year alone. It is journalists like Pukanic that the South East Europe Media Organization hopes to help through publicizing these incidents and pressuring governments to protect them.

election1
Election Night
The pent up frustration of the last eight years gets a joyous release
Maruška Strah
01/12/2008

 

Nervous but excited faces filled every single corner of The Lion Rampant pub on the night of the United States Presedential Election. The pub was completely full by 11pm leaving a crowd of people standing outside the pub and even in the street. Children were running around, clearly not knowing what exactly was going on, but their faces showed that they were aware of the fact that something extremely important was occuring.

 

Haider GPS
Murder or Accident?
Rumors abound as to what really happened that night near Klagenfurt
Maruška Strah
02/11/2008

After Jörg Haider was killed Oct. 11 in a car accident, many Austrians speculate that he was deliberately murdered.

Haider Candles
The ‘King of Carinthians’
On his home turf, Jörg Haider is mourned like a lost father
Maruška Strah
02/11/2008

After the sudden and unexpected death on Oct. 11 of Jörg Haider, the founder and chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) and the regional governor of Carinthia, in a car accident, Carinthians were devastated.

Huge billboards covered Klagenfurt with slogans like “Kärnten trauert” (Carinthia is grieving) and “Haider, der König der Kärntner” (Haider, King of Carinthians). Candles in front of the Corinthian State House displayed the sadness of the local people who considered the charismatic Haider almost a member of their family. Several Carinthian villagers claimed he visited them in their homes, just to see how they were doing.

 

The Fight for Istria
On the Slovenian-Croatian border, an ancient cultural feud is kept alive by thoughtless political decision making
Maruška Strah
02/10/2008

With the Slovenian Social Democrats set to win the recount in the Parliamentary elections just past in late September, the ground may shift in the long-standing border dispute with Croatia and determine whether Slovenia will vote for or against Croatia's membership in the European Union.

Slovenian border issues were at the top of the list in pre-election debates. 'Slovenia will probably not interfere with the entrance of Croatia into the European Union,' insisted Dr. Bogomil Ferfila, Chair of Policy Analysis and Public Administration at the Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana. 'It would only be possible for Slovenia to block their entrance if the majority of the states agreed on it. But with Germany is a strong supporter of Croatian membership that is unlikely.'

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