Austria Reports 26 Racist 'L'amour toujours' Cases Across Courts

The Austrian Justice Ministry disclosed that at least 26 criminal proceedings have been opened over altered, racist renditions of the party hit “L’amour toujours”. The investigations range from preliminary suspicion checks to full trials, but convictions have been rare – only one defendant was sentenced in Innsbruck.

The majority of the cases have been handled by the state prosecutor’s offices in Innsbruck and Graz, each recording five incidents. Justice Minister Anna Sporrer (SPÖ) clarified that chanting the slogan “Deutschland den Deutschen, Ausländer raus” can satisfy the legal criteria for repeat‑offence or incitement only when accompanied by additional extremist symbols such as the Hitler salute. The phenomenon gained public attention after a May 2024 video from the German island of Sylt showed youths shouting the slogan to the song, prompting the Greens to label it a structural problem.

The ministry noted that its figures are based on recollection rather than a systematic, automated query, and therefore may not be exhaustive.