Protesters surround Austrian Parliament

Schuessel faces protests over budget plans

VIENNA, Austria -- Demonstrators formed a human chain around Austria's parliament building as part of a day of national protest over the centre-right government's budget cuts.

The protests began early on Tuesday when streets were blocked in the capital, Vienna, and other cities, disrupting rush-hour traffic.

Police said there were occasional scuffles but no arrests as they cleared major intersections in Vienna.

The protests took place a day before parliament was due to vote on a budget which aims to eliminate the budget deficit within two years.

The budget includes cuts in unemployment benefit, increased prescription charges and the introduction of tuition fees for university students.

The human chain around parliament was organised by the Trade Union Federation -- OeGB -- and closely monitored by around 100 police officers.

About 185,000 high school pupils also had a day without lessons as teachers staged their first strike in nine years.

Anger at the budget cuts and tax increases was highlighted as the reason for a slight dip in the fortunes of Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel's People's Party in provincial elections last weekend.

Social Democrats' national leader Alfred Gusenbauer said the election result in Burgenland, Austria's poorest region, represented a rejection of Schuessel's policies.

"National politics clearly played an important role," he told Austria's ORF radio.

But Schuessel said the results, in which both the far-right Freedom Party and his own conservatives lost ground, were not important.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Austrians protest over budget cuts
December 5, 2000
Austrian election blow for far-right party
December 3, 2000

Austrian Government
Austrian Federation of Trade Unions
Austrian-Politics.com

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