Austria
Once the center of power for the large Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria was reduced to a small republic after its defeat in World War I. Following annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938 and subsequent occupation by the victorious Allies, Austria's 1955 State Treaty declared the country "permanently neutral" as a condition of Soviet military withdrawal. Neutrality, once ingrained as part of the Austrian cultural identity, has been called into question since the Soviet collapse and Austria's increasingly prominent role in European affairs. A prosperous country, Austria joined the European Union in 1995 and the euro monetary system in 1999.
Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel led his People's Party to its biggest electoral success in two decades at the polls in November 2002. However, the People's Party did not gain enough votes to form a government on its own and embarked on a complex round of coalition talks with the Social Democrats and Greens. These talks failed and in the end Schuessel turned again to the far-right Freedom Party. He had faced a wall of resistance at home and abroad when his party first entered a coalition. During over two years of that partnership, Schuessel is widely seen as having moved to the right, notably on asylum and immigration issues.
In autumn 2003 Schuessel's government introduced a package of asylum laws that are seen as among the most restrictive in Europe.
President Heinz Fischer, a centrist politician committed to the welfare state and Austrian neutrality, was elected to the largely ceremonial presidency in April 2004.
There are no known threats to travelers or expatriates in Austria and the nation remains a stable and generally safe place to conduct business.
Small, loosely organized, right-wing groups are increasing their use of computers and international electronic networks. Recent criminal investigations were launched against three Austrians for spreading fascist and extreme right-wing propaganda through the Internet. To combat right-wing extremism, the Justice and Interior Ministries developed a joint proposal for legislation to expand the use of investigative tools, such as electronic eavesdropping and merging of databases, and to introduce protection for defendants and witnesses who cooperate with investigative authorities, however the proposals have met with resistance.
