Austria

Foodwatch Austria sparked discussions about the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to minors; according to the NGO, test buyers aged 8, 11, and 14 years received the new “Tropical Energy Refresher” at McDonald's without any age check or verbal warning

6 new hotels in Austria joined the international collection of independent quality hotels Quality Lodgings, marking its largest-ever single-country expansion and bringing the collection to 134 hotels across eight European countries

Over 70.000 visitors have been counted at the Eurovision village according to Vienna City Marketing, while around 5.000 staged a street protest ahead of the grand finale amid a geopolitical storm with five countries boycotting over Israel’s participation

To mark World Heritage Day, Vienna's Natural History Museum and the Hallstatt region organized “Unveiling Hidden World Heritage”; the event showcased finds that are normally hidden from view: from Alpine pile dwellings to latest discoveries in salt mines

Austria’s coalition government has agreed to introduce a social media ban for children under 14, after days of negotiations over how the measure would work

94 out of Austria’s 96 glaciers have retreated over the last two years, the Austrian Alpine Club reported, with an average loss of 20 meters in length and record of 100 meters of Alpeiner Ferner in Tyrol and Stubacher Sonnblickkees in Salzburg

A club in the ski-resort town of Schladming is providing accessible skiing and allowing everyone to enjoy the slopes thanks to donations and with support of non-profit PSOactive for guided training for sit-skis

Skiers Ariane Rädler and Katharina Huber won the alpine team combination, the first Olympic victory for the ÖSV women in over ten years; the first gold at Milano-Cortina Winter Games came with snowboarder Benjamin Karl in the men's parallel giant slalom

A supplementary protocol on bilateral border-co-operation was signed with Hungary; the text aligns with the post-pandemic Schengen Borders Code: joint patrols can be deployed on either side carrying out identity checks up to 10 km beyond the actual border

Major changes have come into force in Austria in 2026 concerning vehicles and transport: reform of motorway tolls, a strengthening of environmental measures and a more restrictive management of heavy goods traffic along the Brenner corridor

Inheritances in cryptocurrencies are becoming more frequent and questions for heirs and notaries raise; it is estimated that about 300.000 people own cryptos in Austria, but data is difficult to find also due to very low tax compliance

A roundtable on humanitarian consequences of nuclear testing was held in Vienna; community leaders, researchers and practitioners discussed what steps can secure justice for affected communities in line with Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons