Opinion

Every Sunday, Metropole brings you a COVID-19 update from Prof. Dr. Florian Krammer, an Austrian virologist who works and teaches at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City.

When it comes to the supposed inferiority of Austria’s provinces, the Viennese don’t mince words – but being a provincial in the big city also has its advantages.

Settled behind closed doors a century ago, these devastating treaties were greeted with celebratory gunfire across France, leaving Central Europe in tatters and echoes of disharmony across the continent.

Community Lead Pavel Naydenov introduces Vienna's Bulgarian community, the focus of this month's Home Is Where the Herz Is issue.

Press freedom in Central Europe is under renewed threat. Yet there are no systematic arrests of journalists as in Belarus or Turkey, less of the blatant acts of censorship common in Russia and few of the gruesome killings of reporters that are common in autocratic countries around the world. Instead, they are now following the Hungary model.

As criticism and corruption allegations pile up against his administration, the biggest cause for concern is Sebastian Kurz’s deliberate attempts to undermine the nation’s checks and balances.

With the dismantling of Official Secrecy Laws in Austria, real transformation will require a change of culture.

What at first sounds like a compliment, in fact, builds a mental frame separating immigrants from everybody else, when such backgrounds have become a self-evident part of our lives.

Community Lead Vera Gasber introduces Vienna's German community, the largest immigrant group in the city, and the star of this month's 'Home is Where the Herz Is' issue.

What remains of public trust in the state is vanishing rapidly as the coronavirus roars back into the region.

There are lessons we can draw from Biden's election that can help the European Union better deal with far-right populism.

This year we celebrate Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th birthday. This brand-new video series takes you on a musical pilgrimage through Beethoven’s Vienna.

Publication Lead Alexandra-Anna Panić introduces Vienna's Serbian community, the focus of this month's Home Is Where the Herz Is issue.

On the surface, the EU budget summit smoothed over the friction between Brussels and the bloc’s problem children. Deeper down, the rift may be growing.

From the outlook on Kahlenberg, most people look down over the Vienna skyline, picking out buildings they recognize and admiring the majestic view. Poles do that as well, but they see more.

“Inclusive sizing” and “disabled-friendly” clothing have joined the buzzwords of conscious consumerism. Does this make sense for an industry built on the allure of unattainability? What is beauty anyway?

On the eve of the Vienna mayoral elections, questions of voting rights and double citizenship – of Heritage and 'Heimat' – are again dominating the agenda.

With a life both in the U.S. and Vienna, Gabriel Foguel wants dual citizenship, but the Austrian government won’t allow it.

In Austria, every 5th person over 16 cannot vote, in Vienna, every 3rd. For democracy to flourish, we need to make these voices heard.

Vienna has been the closest and most accessible heaven on earth for Hungarians for centuries.

The crucial role of public health and contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The British Ambassador to Austria, Leigh Turner, takes stock of how Vienna has and hasn’t changed since his first posting to the city in the 1980s.

Our publisher and CEO has been living in Vienna for 24 years but she can’t vote in the city she calls home. Time to change that.

We kick off our new reportage series “Home is where the Herz is” with a heartfelt essay about Romanian Vienna.

Under COVID-19 lockdown, domestic violence has predictably gone up. Intervention helps.

COVID-induced creative charity or how the boot of a Fiat became a critical food pipeline.

The recent budget-corona negotiations could lead to the creation of a fiscal union and a greater emphasis on sustainability.

Like other “black swan” events in the past, COVID-19 has challenged our democracies and changed the way we live.

While the right-wing Law and Justice Party (PiS) remains in power, opposition candidate Rafał Trzaskowski has forced the president to take notice.

The crisis has revealed us – for better and worse – to ourselves; the question now is what we will do next.

The renewed struggle against discrimination is really two struggles: one about rights, the other about opinion.

The worldwide Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has now spilled over onto the supermarket shelves. A look at Austria’s own racially problematic icons.

This spring is different. A report from a Styrian in Vienna, as we all stay together apart.

A public international lawyer with 25 years at the UN recounts her experience of living through the pandemic in Vienna.

Zilla Boyer a political scientist, campaigner and pod-cast creator who joined WoV in search of adventure when she relocated here almost three years ago.

How to make the April 5 International Day of Conscience really mean something.

Having two homes is confusing, and the choice between convenience and (fragile) ideology, even more so.

The Still of the Night by Dardis McNamee Some come to Vienna wishing it were Rome or Madrid, bistro nights in Trestevere, or partying on t...

No one can say Vienna is a sore loser. After Austrian media picked up the Expat Insider study’s City Index ranking Vienna the second least friendly city for expats, the “news” spread like wildfire.

In this series, METROPOLE partners up with the Women of Vienna network to bridge communities and celebrate diversity, introducing some of their incredible members and bringing you a slice of Herstory.

With Turkish bombs falling on Kurdish cities in Northeast Syria, a young woman from Rojava tells the story of her town and people

In September, over 220,000 Viennese students went back to school. Some go willingly, some have to be dragged, but Austrian parents have a stock response to unwilling schoolgoers: Blame Maria Theresa

METROPOLE and GLOBSEC will be cooperating on a range of activities, initiatives and events in the upcoming months to promote democracy in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)

Come the hour, come the woman. Leading the interim government was going to be a tough gig, but she was ready.

Amid foreign efforts to undermine Western democracy, decisive questions increasingly can only be addressed in Brussels. So here we are, at press...

The interim government of bureaucrats is giving Austria far more than its first female Chancellor

Author and activist Heather Wokusch who has partnered with KAICIID takes on the Austrian Parliament’s decision to close the interreligious center in Vienna

Those of us who reside in another member state live more “European” lives than anyone. Yet we feel disenfranchised.

The EU plans to abolish daylight savings time in 2021. A good idea? Time for Change Good riddance, I say! The benefits of Daylight Saving Time (DST) h...

So here we are, at press time, with Austria’s governing coalition deservedly in tatters. After the release of a fatally compromising video the far-right vice chancellor H.C. Strache has been shown the door.

Austria is likely to benefit from the New Silk Road, the mammoth Chinese infrastructure project spanning two continents. But strategic thinkers in Was...

The FPÖ would like nothing better than to hobble the independence of Austria’s public broadcaster, the ORF.  Now Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian ...

She’s a fresh faced, bright-eyed optimist with an easy laugh. She is also confronting a task daunting enough to wipe the smile off the sunniest of dis...

Open Store Policy Closing shops on Sunday is so 19th century Every time I welcome someone to Vienna and give them my lis...

Central Europe has experienced a soaring economy in the last two decades. Yet the disaffection of many shows the limits of what economic growth a...

The world has watched the US midterm elections spellbound. But for Europe, even the Democratic victory in the house of representative might not bring ...

What is it like to have fear of heights in a mountainous country? Austrians have absolutely no understanding for this. So how to get over it? By sucki...

The Austrian chancellor as a mixture of Hitler and Mozart on the cover of Newsweek. Please relax! Leni Riefenstahl, the director and scriptwriter of...

The outcome may indicate how the dialectic between supranationalism and nationalism will play out in much of the rest of the world. The United Kingdo...

With the Neue Mittelschule, reformers tried one-size-fits-all – with dismal results. Education Minister Heinz Faßmann’s pragmatic approach deserves a ...

Some people say that when you begin dreaming in a foreign language you have mastered it. That may be, but I say, it’s when you begin telling jokes tha...

Austrians like to show off their serious appreciation of classical music. But if you want them to erupt into joyful singing, you’ve got to play them s...

Three women now head the parties of the opposition. A small revolution for Austria Sometimes reality overtakes prophecy. Christian Kern was quicker...

The Austrian government has cut essential funding for feminist organizations and initiatives – a move that says a lot about its image of women This...

The EU is finally getting tough on Europe’s strongmen. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz played a major role in this turnaround On September 12, th...

We live in one of the most globalized countries in the world, the fourth richest country in the EU and one of the top funders of research and developm...

Many thanks for your thoughts, ideas and insights! If you have something to say about Vienna or a story you read here, tell us all about it. Send your...

A debate unleashed by the hashtag #metwo highlights the need to fight everyday racism – and how listening is still a tall order. In recent weeks,...

An expat muses on the virtues of fresh air. Before moving to Vienna in July 2001, I spent my final weeks in New York suffering through the witherin...

At the root of Europe’s malaise is a philosophical paradox over what it means to be human. On a summer afternoon in 1991 soon after the collapse ...

Why the SPÖ leader rides his bike, has some enemies and is not to be envied. Let’s call it a really bad losing streak, not a personal failure. The S...

Riding Vienna’s public transport is always an adventure. This expat of over 20 years finds a hidden political agenda in the passenger information stic...

They love him or they hate him: Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is more notorious across Europe than most of his predecessors. Now he is taking ove...

Lifetimes of understandable resentment can boil over into presumptions of guilt. This is dangerous. And when important public careers are ruined, ever...

Many thanks for your thoughts, ideas and insights! If you have something to say about Vienna or a story you read here, tell us all about it. Send an e...

At 14, I joined the ranks of the Viennese pet-owning public when – for a brief stint of six weeks – I adopted an adorable short-haired black and white...

In a provocative move, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced the closing of seven mosques and potential expulsion of 60 Turkish-funded imams on...

My first home on the European continent was in Bratislava, Slovakia. The city was still run down in 1994, but as an 8-year-old ragamuffin, the cha...

Why Vienna's city government has completely reorganized itself and what it has to do with the FPÖ, expats and international managers It is an int...

For newcomers, Austrians can take some getting used to. But if you’re planning to get sick, Austria is the place to be. Let’s be honest; if you’r...

After a quarter century, Vienna’s popular Mayor Michael Häupl leaves behind a city more prosperous, international and innovative – yet still humane. T...

Western Balkan countries have made significant progress since the 1990s, when ethnic violence tore the region apart. But that progress is fragile with...

Of all the things I have learned in Vienna, the art of enjoying food has been the most valuable. My family had taken me to nice restaurants back h...

One generation after the miraculous Velvet Revolution brought down totalitarianism, Central Europe is still dealing with its legacy – and seeking to preserve the spark of the Prague Spring

The debate over remedial German classes for migrants has been heated and polarized. It is also a false choice. Ludwig Wittgenstein was absorbed w...

Wien is a city of international stature in multiple ways - but too many know nothing about it. Vienna has been a premier diplomatic capital for 2...

What would we have done? Trying to grasp what we can never fully understand. This year’s commemoration of the Anschluss of Austria by Nazi Germ...

As the largest protests since 1989 rock Slovakia following the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak, fellow contributors wonder about the fut...

The sharing economy makes us more flexible but is no substitute for a true social community. When my Airbnb host introduced me to his children ...

Many thanks for your thoughts, ideas and insights! If you have something to say about Vienna or a story you read here, tell us all about it. Send an e...

Many thanks for your thoughts, ideas and insights! If you have something to say about Vienna or a story you read here, tell us all about it. Send an e...

Just as we should not condemn a work of art because of the artist’s private behavior, we should also be careful about applying norms of social respect...

Art & Politics at the Angewandte Austrian art and politics have always been entangled in an interdependent, uneasy relationship – often the more u...

Ten days after the official start of the Frauen*Volksbegehren – the petition for a referendum on women’s rights – organizers reported breaking the req...

Two years after the start of the refugee crisis, some hard truths and daunting challenges can no longer be ignored. Since 2015, when over a mil...

The Bundesheer is the nation’s stepchild, unloved and underfed. But it is a respected international player and may have found its new role. Today...

“How are you doing today?” the paramedic asks with a smile, as the ambulance hurtles towards the hospital. “I’m not talking to a Neger (negro),” the p...

As the door to Café Einhorn opens, a draft of icy winter air surges into the room. For a fleeting moment, our lungs suck in the oxygen before it disso...

Can we control the spread of AI and robots into every aspect of our lives? Sophia has been granted citizenship by Saudi Arabia; she h...