Category: British in Austria

Six months down the line – little has changed

There has been little change so far in the aftermath of the UK Referendum on EU Membership

In May, I asked three British citizens living in Austria in favour of the UK leaving the EU for their thoughts about the referendum and also how things would be if the UK were to decide to leave the EU. Two replied back then, and now six months down the road, I asked them to say how they feel the situation has changed, how they found out the news etc. The first response came from a Briton living in Western Austria – their previous response to some questions I set is here. I also welcomed their comments on the situation in the Austrian Presidential election and the US Presidential election. The first response is here.

Continue reading “Six months down the line – little has changed”

A collective sigh of relief from Austria – Putting the Bundespräsidentenstichwahlwiederholungsverschiebung to bed

Austria’s Presidential Election is finally over, Renzi loses in Italy and the Supreme Court Hearing takes place…

In a year where the only certainty has been uncertainty – particularly as far as election results have been concerned, the acceptance of the result in the postponed re-run of the run-off for the President Election was a relief – marking at least in Austria the end of the political year dominated by the “Bundespräsidentenstichwahlwiederholungsverschiebung“. Back in May, with Van der Bellen and Norbert Hofer too close to separate from physical votes cast, we had had a nervous weight for a result – Austria’s news providers’ webservers crashing seemed to collude to make the announced results at 4pm on the Monday  back in May after a Sunday vote even more tense. Continue reading “A collective sigh of relief from Austria – Putting the Bundespräsidentenstichwahlwiederholungsverschiebung to bed”

A question of citizenship

The bond of citizenship this year has been a waivering one for me…

A post in the “The 48%”, a Facebook group of Remain supporters, popped up from another Briton in Austria earlier in the autumn, who had just arrived at the decision to choose to naturalise as an Austrian citizen, in so doing of course having to renounce his UK citizenship. Since contact with him, I have also made contact to other UK citizens in Austria within the group, and weighed up our collective plights. Continue reading “A question of citizenship”

A slight make over…

Four months down the line, I’ve given the blog a small makeover – and will be looking forward not back…

The original tagline of this blog addressed my disenfranchisement as a Briton who had lived outside the United Kingdom for over 15 years and had look his democratic right to vote – it was “The view of a British citizen ineligible to vote in the UK Referendum on EU membership”.

In the aftermath, I rapidly confined the blog to mothballs as the Referendum had been and gone, even if the aftermath will rumble on for years. A comment on my Facebook page for the blog commented that the blog looked somewhat funereal – and that I might like to give it a makeover and focus on the ongoing situation. Four months on, I decided that the time is right to move the blog on, buoyed somewhat with the 50,000 reads it has attracted so far.

Recently I have had some contact with others planning on taking Austrian citizenship – from talking with them, I have realised that I have to take the pragmatic approach and not hope for some seemingly ever more slim chance of waking up from a bad dream that the UK has decided not to push forward for Brexit, with Boris Johnson as our Foreign Minister under Theresa May as Prime Minister. The one small mercy is that the treacherous Michael Gove is no longer a cabinet minister.

The removal of the “15-year rule” – a case of too little too late

Votes for life due to be rolled out – too little too late.

On Friday, 7 October, there was a monumental announcement from the cabinet office, namely that the 15 year rule, which was the rule that had prevented me and countless others from voting in the UK Referendum on Membership of the EU, would be ditched and that there would be “votes for life” for Britons abroad. Continue reading “The removal of the “15-year rule” – a case of too little too late”

Reflections following a brief statement from the British Ambassador to Austria

To fellow Brits in Vienna – remain strong – and if anyone is feeling alone and bewildered, get in touch.

Last evening I saw a brief video clip from HM British Embassy here in Vienna – with a very brief statement by the Ambassador, who is due to conclude her term here very soon. The video was published through the Embassy’s Facebook account, and was released yesterday. Continue reading “Reflections following a brief statement from the British Ambassador to Austria”

My initial reaction to the results of the Referendum

My brief statement prepared yesterday immediately upon hearing the results.

I went to bed early on Thursday to make sure that I could watch the coverage of the results towards the ‘business end’ of the count. At 4am I woke up, and upon looking at my phone, headed to the sitting room to watch the coverage on BBC News. Slowly but surely with a Lagavullin in my hand the ‘remain’ camp were not making any inroads into the ‘leave’ advantage.
Continue reading “My initial reaction to the results of the Referendum”

A pro-Brexit Briton in Western Austria speaks out

In the short or long term a Brexit will have no effect on where I live. I think a lot of the UK will see a “Yes” vote as a missed opportunity.

One of the comments made by the first pro-Brexit Briton in Austria to answer a set of questions was that there is a big difference between the situation in Vienna compared with Austria as a whole – particularly with regard to the level of integration that a foreigner needs. I was very pleased that my blog had reached a Briton in Western Austria, who was very keen to talk about her experiences – in particular to highlight how different life can be outside the largest city or capital.

Continue reading “A pro-Brexit Briton in Western Austria speaks out”

Feelings of a pro-Brexit Briton in Vienna

A Brexit will result in the unravelling of the EU as we know it today and result in, at the very least, a tremendous amount of reform. A Bremain could see the UK as a very dysfunctional EU member depending on the margin of victory.

In my last post I set a list of questions that I wanted to ask pro-Brexit Britons in Austria. Below are the first responses – from a long-term Briton in Vienna (who would appear to have been living in Austria for a similar period as I have). Continue reading “Feelings of a pro-Brexit Briton in Vienna”