Austrian president apologizes after breaking country’s pandemic curfew rules

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen apologized Sunday for breaking the country’s coronavirus curfew the night before.

Austria’s Kurier newspaper reported the nation’s president stayed at a restaurant in Vienna on Saturday night after 11 p.m., the curfew time implemented by the government as the country begins to reopen, CNN reported. 

Van der Bellen responded to the article in a Sunday tweet, saying, “I went out for the first time since the lockdown with two friends and my wife.”

“We then lost track of time while chatting,” he reportedly added. “I’m sincerely sorry. It was a mistake.”

Der Bundespräsident zu heutigen Medienmeldungen: „Ich bin erstmals seit dem Lockdown mit zwei Freunden & meiner Frau essen gegangen. Wir haben uns dann verplaudert und leider die Zeit übersehen. Das tut mir aufrichtig leid. Es war ein Fehler“ (1/2)

— A. Van der Bellen (@vanderbellen) May 24, 2020

Austria’s restaurants were permitted to reopen on May 15 as long as they followed social distancing rules and closed at 11 p.m. 

The restaurant that the Austrian president dined at on Saturday could face a fine for remaining open, but Van der Bellen said he’d “take responsibility” for any losses, according to CNN.

The restaurant owner told the Kurier that the last drinks were served before 11 p.m. and that he thought customers could stay on the terrace beyond then, according to the BBC. 

Austria is among the nations attempting to restart amid the coronavirus pandemic. It has confirmed at least 16,539 cases of coronavirus and 641 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The European country was one of the first to follow Italy in implementing restrictions and was also one of the first to begin loosening them, with gatherings of up to 10 people allowed since the beginning of May, according to the BBC.