From March 26 to 29, 2019, the Austrian Federal President was in New York City for the United Nation’s High-Level Meeting on “Climate and Sustainable Development for All”. #Climate4All

On March 12, 2019, the Austrian Embassy participated in the 5th Annual Embassy Day at McKinley Technology High School, a public school in Northeast Washington, DC. The event, organized by McKinley School Librarian Sarah Elwell, is aimed at fostering cross-cultural understanding and appreciation.

As part of the ongoing, topical cooperation between the Embassy of Austria with specialized research centers in the United States, the issue of millennials in politics was discussed during a public lecture by Dr. Hannes Richter on Tuesday, March 12, 2019 at the University of New Orleans’ Austrian Marshall Plan Center for European Studies.

On March 14, 2019, the Austrian Embassy in Washington, DC hosted its Annual Economic Forum which is part of the University of Salzburg Business School’s foreign study trip. The forum addressed recent trends in U.S. trade policies and evaluated the status quo of our bilateral economic relations. In addition, the students gained insights into the versatile work of the Embassy, especially its Economic Department, Advantage Austria (Austria’s platform for intelligence and business development services abroad run by the Austrian Economic Chamber), and OSTA (Office of Science and Technology Austria) and had the opportunity to network with successful Austrians living in the United States.

Doris Berger, Acting Head of Curatorial Affairs of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, was awarded the Decoration of Honor in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria by the President of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen. She is on the planning team of the Academy Museum which is currently being built by Renzo Piano and will be opened later this year. #AustriansAbroad

On February 20, 2019, U.S. President Donald J. Trump welcomed the Federal Chancellor of the Republic Austria Sebastian Kurz to the White House to further strengthen the excellent bilateral relations, especially in the fields of trade and international cooperation. Chancellor Kurz, at age 32 the youngest world leader, was the first Austrian chancellor to be received at the Oval Office in 13 years. #TrumpKurz

At the invitation of the Austrian Defense Attaché MajGen Jürgen Ortner, the former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Jim Townsend, discussed the current status of the transatlantic relations with the Defense Attachés from other European Union member states being represented in Washington, DC.

This year’s film festival will run from March 14 to 24. It will feature the documentary “The Green Lie” (2018) by the Austrian filmmaker Werner Boote. The documentary about the organic food industry will be screened at the Austrian Embassy, followed by a panel discussion with the filmmaker and other experts, on March 20, 2019 at 7pm.

On February 11, 2019, Austrian Federal Minister of Labor, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection Beate Hartinger-Klein presented Austria’s perspective on addressing inequalities and challenges to social inclusion at the 70th session of the United Nation’s Commission for Social Development in New York City.

The USA Biz Awards are bestowed every year to recognize outstanding achievements by Austrian companies in the highly competitive U.S. market. This year’s winners, picked by a jury with the Austrian Trade Commission in Los Angeles are: Wewalka, KNAPP, KTM, Anton Paar, AVL List and StreamUnlimited.

Maria Vassilakou, Vice Mayor of Austria’s capital, visited the Windy City from January 31 to February 2, 2019, to discuss urban development and planning as well as the concepts of smart and resilient cities with her Chicago interlocutors, Chief Resilience Officer Stefan Schaffer and Deputy Budget Director Molly Poppe.

On Saturday, February 9, 2019, the Austrian Embassy hosted prominent members of Jewish communities from the East and West Coast for the annual fundraising gala dinner of In Shifra’s Arms, the nation’s only Jewish non-profit organization for pregnant women in need.

On February 6, 2019, Consul General Andreas Launer presented Hikmet Ersek (CEO and President of Western Union) and his wife, Dr. Nayantara Ghosh-Ersek, with high Austrian decorations at a festive ceremony at the Western Union Headquarters in Denver, CO.

Members of the Austrian Standing Committee on Intelligence visited Washington, DC from January 27 to 30, 2019, to discuss parliamentary oversight of Security and Intelligence agencies with their U.S. counterparts.

In preparation for "World Thinking Day", an annual celebration where girl scouts learn about different countries in the world , a troop from Stafford, Virginia, visited the Embassy on January 29, 2019.

Ambassador Waldner joined Rose-Helene Spreiregen, a French Holocaust survivor and Museum volunteer, to pay respect to the victims within the framework of the 2019 International Holocaust Remembrance Day Commemoration.

On January 22, 2019, the Embassy welcomed some 50 high school students from across the country to talk about Austria.

“A Europe that protects” – that was the motto chosen by Austria for its presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2018. In line with its pro‑European government programme, it was important to the Federal Government to help shape the EU in a positive way. The Austrian Presidency focused on the following areas: security and the fight against illegal migration, securing prosperity and competitiveness through digitalisation, stability in the neighbourhood and the strengthening of the principle of subsidiarity. #recapping #eu2018at

From December 7-9 the Austrian Research and Innovation Talk – ARIT 2018 (organized by the Office of Science and Technology Austria – OSTA) drew Austrian scientists and innovators from all over North America to the nation’s capital.

He looks like Santa Claus and knows everything: Saint Nicholas aka Nikolo. In Austria, he visits children on the 6th of December and rewards them with gifts, provided they behaved well throughout the year. This year his sleigh went transatlantic to fulfil Nikolo’s wish to visit children in the nation’s capitol. #EmbassyAdoption #DCPublicSchools