The Austrian government will make sure to fulfill its commitment to prohibit the employment of public employees in government positions if they violate the law that prohibits the use of Nazi symbols. The government pledged to do this after a soldier was recently convicted of violating the law that prohibits wearing Nazi uniforms
Austria made it clear last week that it will toughen its laws prohibiting the use of Nazi symbols as a way of adapting to the trends that stand out in recent times, including the protesters against the corona restrictions who compared themselves to Jews in the Holocaust. Like Germany, Austria passed a law after World War II banning the Nazi Party and banning the distribution of Nazi propaganda, as well as symbols of the Third Reich, including the raised hand salute.
In the past demonstrations against the Corona, the demonstrators in Austria wore yellow stars on the lapel of their clothes like the yellow patch that the Nazis forced the Jews to wear. The word “Jew” was replaced by the words “not vaccinated”.
“Any trivialization of the Nazi genocide and Nazi crimes against humanity in the Holocaust or Holocaust denial must be punished and are unacceptable,” said Justice Minister Zaditz of the Austrian Green Party at a press conference. Changing the law requires a two-thirds majority in parliament, meaning the coalition government needs the support of at least one opposition party. The Social Democracy party, the largest in the opposition, said it would wait for the draft law to be submitted to parliament.
According to Zaditz, the Austrian government will also make sure to fulfill its commitment to ban the employment of public employees in government positions, if they violate the law that prohibits the use of Nazi symbols. The government undertook to do this after a soldier was recently convicted of violating the law prohibiting the wearing of SS uniforms and was not fired.