Commotion in City Hall

During a speech on inflation, a Red Party politician embarrasses herself

During the speech by senior citizens' representative Ingrid Korosec, SPÖ city councilor Susanne Haase (right in the background) films herself and even makes faces.(Bild: ÖVP Wien)

Embarrassing and totally inappropriate: during the Vienna City Council debate on more expensive public transport and the abolition of senior citizen tickets, an SPÖ politician was in a silly mood.

The way a representative behaved during a city council meeting would not be acceptable in any school classroom. During the speech by senior citizens' representative and city councilor Ingrid Korosec (ÖVP) on the abolition of senior citizen tickets on December 18, city councilor Susanne Haase (SPÖ) couldn't keep her hands off her cell phone.

Filming, styling, making faces, and laughing
She repeatedly reached for her cell phone. But that wasn't all: the union representative filmed herself, used her camera to fix her hair, talked to herself, made faces, and laughed.

Again and again, she reached for her cell phone during the speech by senior citizens' representative Korosec...(Bild: ÖVP Wien)

– precisely while Korosec was talking about inflation and pensioners at risk of poverty.(Bild: Instagram/Ingrid Korosec)

The representative's behavior has not been well received on social media. The video has now been viewed more than 20,000 times and commented on hundreds of times.

"I have the utmost respect for my colleague Korosec and listened to her carefully," Haase now defends herself. Due to the illness of a fellow local councilor, she was unable to leave her seat, as she was assigned to be the rapporteur from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. However, this does not explain her behavior.

SPÖ: "Parliamentary work involves many side issues"
In response to a question from "Krone," the Vienna SPÖ City Hall Club simply stated that it is absolutely normal "for representatives to work during meetings. Parliamentary work involves many side issues that require attention. In addition, representatives can certainly work and listen at the same time – or take notes on what is being said." Then they pointed the finger at the other parties, saying that this was cross-party behavior and that examples could be found in all factions.

Is my hair okay? During the speech, the red local councilor filmed herself several times.(Bild: wien.gv.at)

But how can we ensure that the attention in the plenary session is focused on the speakers? In the German Bundestag, Bundestag President Julia Klöckner (CDU) recently admonished members of parliament to use electronic devices with restraint. Smartphones are generally allowed, but no phone calls and no selfies in the plenary session. Incidentally, cell phones have been banned by regulation in Austria in the first eight grades of school since May 2025. In Vienna, this affects more than 400 public compulsory schools with around 132,000 students.