Parliament Committee Approves GSF Amendment

UNCLAS VIENNA 003201 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR EUR/OHI AND EUR/AGS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KNAR PHUM PGOV AU SUBJECT: Parliament Committee Approves GSF Amendment REF: VIENNA 3026 THIS MESSAGE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. ¶1. (U) On September 22, the Austrian Parliament's Constitutional Committee approved the draft amendment to the General Settlement Fund (GSF) Law (reftel). The change would make possible advance payments to survivors once legal peace exists. The plan is for the full parliament to adopt the law in October. By then, the GoA hopes to have legal peace through withdrawal or dismissal of the Whiteman case pending in New York (the last class action suit against Austria). An opposition Green Party motion to pass the amendment before legal peace exists received no support from the other parliamentary parties. ¶2. (SBU) COMMENT: The GoA had originally planned to submit the amendment to the parliamentary plenary on September 29. We interpret the delay until October as an indication that resolution of the Whiteman suit is taking somewhat longer than the GoA had anticipated. BROWN