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Unanimous resolutions on the commitment against autonomous weapons and for the safety of journalists
Vienna (PK) – To strengthen Austria as the seat of the official headquarters of international organizations and the national commission for international law in the Red Cross, the National Council today passed legislative resolutions by majority. Two motions for resolutions by the ÖVP and the Greens in the field of human rights on the prohibition of autonomous weapons systems and the safety of journalists were also unanimously approved.
The law of official positions provides relief to access to the labor market
The Office Seat Act defended by the ruling parties, the SPÖ and NEOS will merge or replace the previous legal regulations, some of which are scattered in different federal laws, on the privileges and exemptions of international organizations, conferences and other international institutions such as NGOs. . from May 2021. There are plans to make it easier for international non-governmental organization employees and their families to stay and access the labor market in Austria, which the FPÖ criticized and expressed with a separate vote request. Axel Kassegger and Martin Graf (both FPÖ) found the “privileges” to be excessive.
According to Reinhold Lopatka (ÖVP), international offices secure 19,000 jobs in Austria and give a signal of legal certainty and recognition to organizations. Katharina Kucharowits (SPÖ) also rated the project positively, although she perceived that there was “room for improvement” in terms of financial support for international organizations and international engagement in general. NEOS mandate Helmut Brandstätter appreciated the fact that Austria presented itself in this way to be friendly to foreigners.
The sustainable safeguarding of Austria as the official international headquarters should be understood as a long-term perspective in the context that “the wheel of foreign policy does not stop turning”, as Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg put it. In addition, it is a fundamental economic and safety factor.
Legal basis of the Commission on International Humanitarian Law
A formal legal basis is created with the amendment of the Red Cross Law for the Austrian “National Commission for the Application of International Humanitarian Law”, which is already working informally. In return, the Red Cross will receive an annual grant of 2 million euros from the Ministry of the Interior to fulfill its tasks anchored in international law, which, in addition to the ÖVP and the Greens, also hosted the parliamentary group SPÖ through Katharina Kucharowits . The International Red Cross is one of the most important humanitarian institutions, said ÖVP MP Reinhold Lopatka, the organization’s institutional and financial security, which provides humanitarian aid locally in war zones and has a special protected position there, as Michel Reimon (Greens ) explained. According to him, the use of funds should be evaluated annually. However, Axel Kassegger (FPÖ) and Helmut Brandstätter (NEOS) criticized the fact that funding plans for the Red Cross were presented at short notice by government groups.
Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg was delighted to put cooperation with his most important partner at crisis hotspots on a new basis. Humanitarian work must not disappear in the shadow of the pandemic, he said.
Joint stand for the prohibition of autonomous weapons and the safety of journalists
With a resolution, the National Council unanimously called for a more active commitment by Austria to ban autonomous weapons systems without human control. The background to the ÖVP-Greens initiative is the trend towards greater autonomy in military systems. Gudrun Kugler (ÖVP) evaluated the unanimous parliamentary signal against these “killer robots” as an important contribution to active peace policy. Unfortunately, not even the pandemic has led to the defusing of armed conflicts, said Green MP Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic on the worrying issue. Robert Laimer (SPÖ) also said that artificial intelligence in the military field is well advanced and should instead be used for the benefit of the people and to keep the peace. FPÖ MP Christian Hafenecker also promised the support of his parliamentary group, but in his opinion such developments would be in the hands of the superpowers.
Also on the basis of a resolution of the ÖVP and the Greens, all parliamentary groups advocate for independent journalism and the global protection of journalists, as well as the fight against impunity for crimes against this professional group, with special emphasis on the role of women journalists and the effects of the crown on their work. The Foreign Minister should focus on the issue within the framework of Austria’s membership in the UN Human Rights Council and the desired participation in the UNESCO Executive Board from 2021 to 2025. The situation for journalists has worsened around the world, said Reinhold Lopatka (ÖVP) about the initiative, which aims to end this injustice. Democracy cannot function without free media, said Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic (Greens) in view of the commitment of more than 380 media workers who were jailed for their work last year. According to Harald Troch (SPÖ), there were 50 murders of journalists around the world in 2020. The concern is also generally directed at press freedom and therefore also at Austria, the SPÖ mandate said. Without wanting to make a comparison, Helmut Brandstätter (NEOS) asked people to be aware of what is going wrong in this regard in their own country.
Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg hailed the broad support for both initiatives as “strong support” but resisted comparisons between authoritarian states and freedom of the media and freedom of speech in Austria. (Continuation of the National Council) fan
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