Thousands of Austrians packed the southern city of Klagenfurt today to mourn Joerg Haider, a politician who was denounced as a Nazi sympathiser in the 1990s but had remained hugely popular as a provincial governor.

AUSTRIAN Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer said his government planned to launch an image campaign to restore its reputation abroad after an incest case that shocked the world.

European leaders celebrate the end of border controls along a line stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic today as many of the European Union’s newest members join the EU’s passport-free zone.

At least 2,000 angry protesters chanted anti-government slogans today as Austria’s president swore in a new centre-left chancellor and his Cabinet, a “grand coalition” forged more than three months after hard-fought elections.

Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel says he’s “proud” of the tough position Austria staked out in crisis talks on the launch of negotiations with Turkey to join the European Union.