If you were living in Austria ...

[aross]

Tender...the entire second half of the original article you posted is dedicated to why a ban is an awful idea. If the niqab is a symbol of female oppression (which, on balance, it is - which doesn't mean it can't be worn by some women of their own choosing), will banning it liberate these women? No, their husbands or family will simply ban them from going outside at all, withdraw them from school and isolate them further. There is such a thing as a parallel society in (small parts of) Austria, and something like this is just going to widen the gap further and strengthen the narrative of extremists. That is before we even get into the issues of personal freedom and the state targeting a particular religious group.

Anyway, as someone who actually lives in an area where I regularly (as in most days) see women wearing niqab on the street, how on earth would this even be enforced? Are we going to have police patrolling the streets just for this? Clothing inspectors? (Actually, to the French here, how are things done over with you? Though IIRC the number of Islamic women wearing niqab is far smaller in France.)

And finally, it should be noted that Tender has massively exaggerated the story. Sebastian Kurz, Foreign Minister, ÖVP rising star and noted human turd proposed a burka a few days ago. The only SPÖ politician to respond so far has been the chairman of the parliamentary group, Andreas Schieder, who proposed this trade-off. No indication so far that a) this is the official position of the SPÖ or b) the ÖVP is willing to accept it. If Kurz were too support this deal, he would make himself highly unpopular with the ÖVP old guard - not ideal when you're trying to become leader in a party where they still have a lot of influence.