[ad_1]
Italians hoping to spend a skiing holiday in the Austrian peaks will likely be disappointed by the upcoming decisions of the Vienna government following pressure from other EU countries. According to the Austrian newspaper The standardTomorrow the Austrian government will stop on the ski holidays to combat the contagion of the coronavirus. As learned, skiing will not be prohibited to residents and the lifts will remain open, but hotels and restaurants will remain closed. In Austria, ski lifts are considered a means of public transport and the service cannot be interrupted. Winter tourism is expected to gradually resume in January.
The charge of “interference”
The Austrian government’s election comes after pressure from Germany, France and Italy, determined to ban ski holidays during the Christmas holidays in an attempt to control the coronavirus pandemic and prevent a third wave of infections. The decision is not made lightly. Only this morning the Austrian Minister of Tourism Elisabeth kostinger accused the German government of interfering in the internal affairs of the country after that Angela Merkel He said he wanted to ban ski vacations. Finally, the Government of Sebastian Kurz took note of the isolation in the EU and decided to stop tourism during the holidays.
The threat: closed borders
“We will not allow another country to determine when and what we will open,” Kostinger said a few days ago, “just as we would never give the suggestion to Germany that it should, for example, close its schools or its hairdressers.” Austrian hostility towards requests from European partners had peaked application Vienna on “EU subsidies” for closed plants. A resistance that had pushed the German government, in recent hours, to invoke “an easy solution” to safeguard the health of citizens. Indeed, EU states could have closed the Austrian border for non-essential travel, causing serious damage to the country.
French pressure on Switzerland and Spain
The threat of border closures for those who do not want to give up snow slalom despite the pandemic has also come in recent hours from the French government against Switzerland, determined to keep tourist facilities and facilities open. “If there are countries that keep the ski resorts open, there will be controls to deter the French, with the aim of not creating an imbalance with the ski resorts in France,” the president explained. Emmanuel macron. “We will have restrictive and dissuasive measures,” which “will be refined in the coming days with the Government,” said the French president, who requested “European coordination.” At the moment, he said, “not all countries are exactly aligned.” With Germany and probably Italy, “we want to convince our partners” like Switzerland or Spain not to “open the doors” of the ski resorts.
