Austria (Muhammad Amir Siddique)Vienna’s Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) harshly criticized Transport and Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) on Tuesday – keyword evaluation of the northeast bypass including the Lobau tunnel as well as the procedure for the recently presented climate ticket. He suspects that the head of department has recently made her decisions more dependent on the election date in Upper Austria at the end of September than on content-related considerations, as Ludwig said in an interview with the APA. Most recently, the climate ticket was presented in Linz and a start was announced on October 26th – but without the Verkehrsverbund Ostregion (VOR), in which Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland bundle their offers, Ludwig reminded. Not a good negotiating style. We in Vienna were very astonished that the Federal Minister, without arriving at an overall result that was announced in the media. That is not a good negotiating style, especially where more than 60 percent of commuters in the eastern region are on the move. Ludwig was astonished: “So in reality a nationwide ticket is being announced that is not one.” It was expected that there would be negotiations on an equal footing. Presumably the election date in Upper Austria was responsible for the presentation, said Ludwig, who referred to the ongoing talks with the federal government. No coordination: “Different areas”. The same with the election date also applies to the evaluation of high-level road projects, he speculated. “Some things go quickly, see S10”, he referred to the decision to continue building the Mühlviertel expressway. He demanded clarity quickly, also in matters of the northeast bypass. “The northeast bypass is an important decision for Vienna. Every halfway larger municipality in Austria has a bypass. ”This will relieve the population of through traffic. I would like to enforce this right for the Viennese population.” Business settlement areas could also be created along the route. Ludwig ruled out that there could be a deal in some form – Vienna agrees to the climate ticket through the VOR and the federal government is blessing the tunnel construction for it. “These are two very different areas,” he emphasized. Resettlement program for Afghanistan refugees
In the interview, Ludwig also advocates taking in refugees from Afghanistan – who are at risk after the Taliban came to power. “I am in favor of using so-called resettlement programs to bring people to safety who have campaigned for democratic values and the Western world,” he said. Ludwig named the 300 female judges in the state as an example. Understanding of Hebein’s resignation from the party
Another topic was Birgit Hebein’s resignation from the Green Party. Ludwig noted that he understood the attitude of the former Green Party leader in Vienna. “She was always very uncompromising on this issue and was also emotionally and personally involved. So I can well imagine that it will be very difficult for her to understand the decisions that are made by federal politics.
About the Author
