Austrian Campsite has

01 February 2006

According to information provided to the ERRC by activist Ms Anna Balogi on August 9, 2005, and confirmed by the Viennabased NGO ZARA, the Austrian campground Lienzer Dolomiten publicly displayed German language signs stating "No Place for Gypsies". On August 31, 2005, the German language newspaper Der Standard reported that the campground owner stated that the signs had been put up at the encouragement of a camping guide publisher. Mr. Johann Wieser, owner of the camp, was quoted as having stated that he had not been advertised in the 2003 Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil Club guide as he had been accepting "campers who are not actually campers", meaning Roma. The publisher of another guide, Club ACSI, also reportedly had threatened to stop listing the Lienzer Dolomiten campground if the owner continued to allow Roma to access his site. However, Der Standard reported that both publishers denied the allegations. Mr. Wieser further argued that if hotel owners could refuse service to people they did not like, he could as well. The case has reportedly been referred to the Ombudsman for Ethnic Equality in the Provision of Goods and Services.

(ERRC, ZARA, Der Standard)