Austria improves nationality law

VIENNA: The Austrian parliament has amended the 2019 Citizenship Act to correct "inequalities" faced by descendants of Nazi victims who fled the country under Hitler’s Third Reich.

The legislation came into effect last September allowing descendants of up to three generations of victims of Nazi persecution to reclaim an Austrian passport in a simplified process. However, the amendment passed unanimously on Thursday night had to be brought in to remedy "unacceptable differences in the treatment" of the descendants under the 2019 act, member of parliament Sabine Schatz said in a statement.

"When the act came into force, inequalities were noted that have been corrected," she added. Political expert Barbara Serloth, who was involved in the amendment project, told AFP that descendants of people "killed by the Nazis", for example in Mauthausen concentration camp, were not eligible.