(Deutsche Welle) “Not much has changed,” says Herbert Trappel, enjoying a glass of wine at an outdoor sausage stand at Vienna’s Viktor Adler Market. “When was the law introduced, back in April?”
The stand’s proprietor, Vesna Dudek, shakes her head indecisively. You used to see a few fully veiled people walking around here, she says, but they’ve disappeared from the streetscape. But otherwise, she adds, there’s nothing else to say.
But back when Austria banned full-face coverings with its so-called burqa ban last October 1 (not in April), the country was caught up in a heated debate over the issue, one that even drew in comments and criticism from abroad. In the beginning, almost everything went wrong: Police confronted costumed mascots and street musicians and admonished cyclists for pulling scarves too far over their faces.
