‘Make the Krampus disappear! … "I'm not scared of you, so there!"' In December 1961, in response to the criticism from Moscow regarding the attempts to establish closer links between Austria and the European Economic Community (EEC), the Vienna-based daily newspaper Arbeiter-Zeitung refers to the legend of St Nicolas and the ‘Krampus' — a hideous character dressed in an animal skin and armed with a whip and little bells to frighten children — in order to illustrate Austria's attitude to Moscow.