Weekly Briefing: New Economic Developments
The Find out more about this week's developments. The war in Ukraine is also making itself increasingly felt in the Austrian economy. In Vienna, there are new developments in the day-to-day business of diplomacy. Read about the latest developments in diplomacy in Vienna and Austria.
Take five minutes to catch up on this week’s essential news! / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / Filip Nohe [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/deed.de)], modified and edited
Russo-Ukrainian War
Recently, critical journalists were persecuted and imprisoned in Russia as a common practice. The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Teresa Ribeiro, strongly condemns the continued practice of judicial persecution, which is hampering access to information and media freedom in the Russian Federation.
Economic Developments in Vienna and Austria
The City of Vienna increases the fees for water, sewage, waste disposal as well as the prices of parking tickets. The adjustment of tariffs for municipal services is made in Vienna based on the applicable valorization law.
As a result of the war in Ukraine, contingency plans are being put in place in Europe, as well as in Austria, to secure gas supplies. Gas storage facilities in Austria are 59.83 percent full. This means that a total of 57.2 terawatt hours (TWh) of natural gas is stored in domestic storage facilities.
Austrian companies are increasingly exporting to the USA. It is already their largest overseas market and mutual bilateral investments are steadily increasing. Read on to find out what influences the positive growth dynamics and why Austrian products are in such demand in the U.S..
During the past two decades, Russian tourists with purchasing power have enriched the city centre's luxury shops, but since the invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine, hardly anyone visits the Austrian capital. According to the latest statistics, fewer than one percent of tourists staying overnight in Vienna are Russians. Due to the loss of purchasing power, the tourism industry in Vienna suffers greatly.
Diplomacy in Vienna and the World
Mohsen Naziri Asl, Iran's new permanent representative, presented his credentials to the Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna, Dennis Thatchaichawalit. Meet Ambassador Naziri Asl, the new permanent representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the International Organizations in Vienna.
Levent Eler, Turkey's new permanent representative, presented his credentials to the Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna, Dennis Thatchaichawalit. Meet Ambassador Levent Eler, the new permanent representative of the Republic of Turkey to the International Organizations in Vienna.
The former environment minister of the Caribbean island nation of Grenada, Simon Stiell, will be the new UN climate chief. The office of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced today in New York that Stiell has been appointed to succeed Patricia Espinosa of Mexico, who held the post from July 20216 to July 16 this year.
Yusuf Yıldız, Counsellor for Education of the Embassy of Turkey in Vienna participated in the program "Come together 100 years of education" organized by the Vienna Directorate of Education on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Vienna Directorate of Education.
Space Diplomacy
The United Nations Platform for Space-Based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER) is based in Vienna and aims to communicate the application of space-based technologies for disaster management and emergency response.
The Republic of Moldova successfully deployed its first satellite, TUMnanoSAT, from the International Space Station (ISS). Under the KiboCUBE program, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) contributed to this achievement.
What Else Happened This Week?
A final chapter of the first term of the Austrian President is approaching. On 9 October, Alexander Van der Bellen will contest Austria's 14th federal presidential election and will attempt to defend his office. At Vindobona, we take this opportunity to look back on the first term of the President.
From August 21 to 26, 2022, the 13th International Finnougrist Congress, or CIFU (Congressus Internationalis Fenno-Ugristarum), will be held at the University of Vienna. It is the most important international event of Finno-Ugristics. More than 300 scholars from 19 countries will exchange ideas on current topics from linguistics to literature and cultural studies.
Devastating forest fires keep France at bay. After it seemed impossible to cope with the disaster on its own, the European Community was asked to help. Many states helped, including Austria.
This summer, the Japanese Embassy in Vienna and the Japanese Society in Austria will be holding their annual Japanese Summer Festival. At the Japanese International School in Vienna, the festivities will take place from 12 to 4 p.m. on 27 August.