VIENNA, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Austrian President Heinz Fischer opened the nation-wide fundraising campaign "Licht ins Dunkel (Light in the darkness)" on Wednesday in his office in Hofburg Palace of Vienna.

    He stressed that in these economically crisis times, the social problems would be greater, and which increased the urgency to call for this campaign.

    He also briefly mentioned the political issue on the guaranteed minimum income, and hoped that it would be timely decided and putted into force as planned.

    The 37th fundraising campaign "Licht ins Dunkel" launched by the Austrian Broadcasting (ORF) is officially opened on Wednesday. The guiding principle of this campaign is the love among neighborhood with its view to help the disabled and needy people in Austria.

    In the previous year, an amount of ten million euro was raised and was used to support 434 disabled and social assistance projects in Austria. Since the beginning of the campaign "Licht ins Dunkel" in 1973, more than 183 million euro in total has been donated.