Oligarch villa occupied by activists – salzburg.ORF.at
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In the village of Burgau in the municipality of St. Gilgen (Flachgau), around 40 activists occupied a villa on Saturday that is said to belong to a Russian oligarch.
The police had not been informed of the action when the APA was informed by the group about the occupation. A spokeswoman said they were a “losing alliance of anarchist activists” and were calling for the Russian owner to be expropriated.
The property is believed to belong to Russian oligarch Igor Shuvalov. The owner is considered a confidant of Vladimir Putin. The activists criticize the war in Ukraine and the situation of the refugees and the homeless. They want the property to be confiscated.
“We have not entrenched ourselves, but are quite relaxed for the time being,” said the young woman, who wished to remain anonymous as a spokeswoman. The occupation was “not completely without resistance” given up. Each individual member of the alliance would decide for himself how to oppose the police instructions.
“Use the house for the socially disadvantaged and war refugees”
Banners with inscriptions such as “Solidarity with all refugees and deserters” and “Free access to the sea” hang from the windows of the villa. In a press release, the activists criticize the war in Ukraine and call for the use of privatized vacancies for refugees, deserters and the homeless. Another thorn in the side of the group is that many lake accesses are in private hands. A “stop to the privatization of the Attersee” is demanded.
In the meantime, the police took up positions with several patrols, as the press office announced at the request of APA. Contact has already been made with the squatters and discussions have been held. The homeowner, who would have to request the eviction, has not yet been reached. The occupiers are not enlarged demonstrators who recently occupied a property belonging to the Annaberg ski star and multiple World Cup winner Marcel Hirscher in Salzburg’s Andräviertel. “We are not connected to it,” said the spokeswoman for the group.