Austria has begun enforcing a ban on Islamic headscarves for pupils under 14, with schools reopening in Vienna and other states on Monday testing the new rule for the first time. The country's main Muslim body, the Islamic Religious Community in Austria (IGGO), has condemned the measure as discriminatory and unjustifiably restricting religious freedom, and legal challenges are expected before the Constitutional Court, which threw out earlier challenges in July only because the law had not yet taken effect. The government, a coalition of three centrist parties backed by the far-right Freedom Party, says the ban protects girls' freedom, though only the Greens opposed it in parliament, and officials concede the court could still strike it down.

The law was passed in December and took effect as the new school year began, first in Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland, with other states following a week later. Schools must discuss the rule with any pupil who defies it before imposing a fine of between €150 and €800, and left-wing pupils' groups have called protests. The move echoes a 2020 Constitutional Court ruling that struck down a similar ban for under-10s as discriminatory, and comes as Denmark moves to extend its burka ban to schools and universities and Portugal introduces a new law banning full-face veils in public.