Austria's most prestigious ball, an annual event at the Vienna State Opera, will not take place in February due to the continuing health risk, the government announced on Wednesday. "This decision was not easy," Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said in a statement, cited by dpa. "But we opted for the cancellation, as infections happen especially at parties and festivities."

EU asylum reform should mainly focus on protecting the bloc's external borders, the fight against people smugglers and on local aid to prevent migration flows to Europe, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told dpa in an interview in Vienna. The conservative politician rejects distribution concepts that would oblige countries to take in refugees.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz was called before a parliamentary corruption inquiry panel on Wednesday to answer questions about money flows from corporate donors and politically motivated appointments, news wires reported. Legislators said Kurz should hand over his calendar and mobile phone messages, but the conservative leader rejected the demands.

The Austrian government confirmed reports that border controls with Germany will be lifted from 15 June. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz have agreed on a two-step plan to ease travel restrictions, Austria’s tourism minister, Elisabeth Koestinger, told broadcaster ORF on Wednesday.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who joined a meeting of the Visegrad Group in Prague on Thursday, indicated that he aimed to mediate between the western and eastern countries of the European Union, news wires reported.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is in Vienna on Sunday looking to get Austria's backing for reforms to the European Union's asylum laws, as the bloc continues to fight over how to deal with arrivals predominantly from the Middle East and North Africa.

Austria's conservative Sebastian Kurz returned to office on Tuesday as the world's youngest democratically elected leader heading an unlikely coalition with the Greens after his previous far-right alliance collapsed, news wires reported. He was sworn in as Austria’s chancellor by President Alexander Van der Bellen on Tuesday.

Former Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz said in interviews on Tuesday that a new government coalition between his conservatives and the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) could be an option after snap elections in September.

Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz calls for the renegotiation of the European Union's Lisbon Treaty and for tough action on countries letting migrants transit, news wires reported. Kurz gave a pool interview to several Austrian newspapers on Friday, when his centre-right People's Party (OeVP) started its campaign for the European Parliament elections.