Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06VIENNA2625
2006-09-01 14:45:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Vienna
Cable title:  

AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: September 01, 2006

Tags:  KPAO AU OPRC 
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Dayna R Robison 09/20/2006 11:18:48 AM From DB/Inbox: Dayna R Robison

Cable 
Text: 
UNCLAS VIENNA 02625

SIPDIS
CXVIENNA:
 ACTION: PAO
 INFO: DAO POLEC REVIEW DCM AMB

DISSEMINATION: PAO
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: APAO: KPEREZ
DRAFTED: VBARTL
CLEARED: NONE

VZCZCVII940
PP RUEHC RUEKJCS RHEHAAA
DE RUEHVI #2625/01 2441445
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 011445Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4818
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/WHITEHOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 VIENNA 002625 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/AGS, INR/EU, AND EUR/PPD FOR YVETTE SAINT-ANDRE

OSD FOR COMMANDER CHAFFEE

WHITEHOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO AU OPRC

SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: September 01, 2006


Greens Kick off Election Campaign

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 VIENNA 002625

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/AGS, INR/EU, AND EUR/PPD FOR YVETTE SAINT-ANDRE

OSD FOR COMMANDER CHAFFEE

WHITEHOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO AU OPRC

SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: September 01, 2006


Greens Kick off Election Campaign


1. The Green Party began its election campaign in Vienna on Thursday
with a series of attacks on the OeVP and Chancellor Wolfgang
Schuessel. Party leader Alexander Van der Bellen said reforms were
desperately needed in the education and training sectors, and
accused the Chancellor of denying some serious problems needed to be
addressed. Greens deputy-leader Eva Glawischnig said the OeVP's
policies were anti-women. Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung quotes
the Greens leaders Alexander Van der Bellen and Eva Glawischnig as
stressing they are "campaigning against the OeVP's delusions of
grandeur," and say they "want to send the current government
packing" with the help of the Austrian women's votes, who make up
52,6 percent of the electorate. Van der Bellen also said his party
would push for a "one-billion-Euro reform of the country's education
and job training systems," and harshly attacked OeVP Education
Minister Elisabeth Gehrer. Glawischnig meanwhile emphasized the dire
need for better chances for women, saying they needed to be "given
priority in all areas of life."


Election Outcome Open again


2. An Austrian daily publishes a survey by polling institute Gallup,
which suggests the outcome of the October 1 general election is all
but clear. According to the Gallup survey published in newly
established daily Oesterreich, the OeVP is currently at 37 percent
of the votes, followed closely by the SPOe with 35 percent. The
Greens would get 11 percent of the votes at this point, and the FPOe
seven percent. The BZOe and maverick MEP Heinz-Peter Martin's party
HPM are ranked last, both with about 4 percent of the votes. In
addition, a SPOE-Greens coalition is becoming increasingly popular
among Austrians: 18 percent say this was their preferred government
combination. With 39 percent of support, an OeVP-SPOe grand
coalition remains the most popular coalition choice.


Mild Verdict for Policemen


3. Four members of the elite Vienna police unit WEGA have been found
guilty of torturing and seriously injuring Bakary J., a Gambian
asylum seeker, earlier this year. Three police officers received
eight month suspended sentences, the fourth six months suspension,
according to a report in independent provincial daily Salzburger

Nachrichten. In a surprise turn on Wednesday the accused had pleaded
guilty to the charges. Bakary J. was awarded 3,000 euros in damages.
There was harsh criticism of the sentencing from Amnesty
International (AI). The head of AI-Austria Heinz Patzelt said
torture was effectively being treated as a petty crime.


Bawag Fallout


4. The Austrian Unions Association (OeGB) says it will file for
damages against its former president Fritz Verzetnitsch following
the affair over union-owned bank Bawag. In an interview with
economics weekly Format, the head of the OeBG's Social Democratic
faction, Wilhelm Haberzettl, did not name the sum the organization
would sue for.

Austria Has New Daily


5. As of today, Oesterreich, a new daily newspaper is being
published in Austria, bringing the total number of papers for sale
in Austria to 17. The daily's editor in chief is long-time media
tycoon Wolfgang Fellner, who also published mass-circulation weekly
News and monthly magazine Woman.


Iran Ignores Deadline


6. The UN's nuclear watchdog says Iran has ignored a Security
Council call to stop its uranium enrichment program, opening the way
for possible sanctions. Iran has dismissed the report by the
International Atomic Energy Agency, saying it will continue to
pursue its nuclear activities. The US says the report contains ample
justification for concern that Iran intends to produce nuclear
weapons. Washington is therefore pushing for rapid sanctions against
the mullah regime, but Russia and China are expected to oppose such
a move. Newly established Austrian daily Oesterreich believes Iran'
defiance is going to tighten the "noose of sanctions around Iran's
neck."
The daily's foreign editor Gerhard Plott comments: "Ahmadinejad is
banking on disagreement in the Security Council. Russia and China
would block the threatened sanctions against Iran, he believes. But
to believe is not the same as to know, which is why Ahmadinejad
could be terribly wrong. Neither Moscow, nor Beijing have any
interest whatsoever in an atomic bomb in the hands of the mullah
regime. It will take some huge diplomatic efforts now to forge an
alliance with the two countries in order to get the confused man in
Tehran back on the right track. The match Ahmadinejad has put to the
powder keg must be put out."


Stockholm Conference Pledges Lebanon Aid


7. International donors meeting in Stockholm have pledged more than
940 million dollars in immediate reconstruction aid for Lebanon. The
sum is nearly double the targeted amount. Lebanese Premier Fuad
Siniora has meanwhile promised the international community that the
financial aid to be provided will not end up in the hands of radical
Islamic group Hezbollah. Conference participants will turn their
attention to the Palestinian territories today, where aid was cut
off earlier this year after the election of Hamas into government.
Newly established daily Oesterreich publishes an interview with
Hezbollah spokesperson Dr. Bilal Naim, who emphasizes that the
organization considers itself the winner in the recent conflict:
"The entire world was against us, but we are the winners now.
Israeli Premier Olmert has failed to reach his goals," namely the
"destruction and disarmament of Hezbollah, and driving the
organization out of southern Lebanon. And of course, liberating the
kidnapped Israeli soldiers." Regarding the consequences for
Hezbollah, he said: "Everyone in the Arab world had a problem with
Israel's power. Hezbollah has shown everyone that we can beat
Israel." Dr. Bilal also underscored that "no army in the world can
disarm Hezbollah. You have to know the nature of Hezbollah, the
nature of Islamic resistance. Each and every one of us is part of
Lebanese society. There is no military base, no headquarters for
this resistance." Hezbollah "will not disarm as long as Israel
exists and poses a threat."


California Passes Emission Laws


8. The state of California has become the first in the nation to
pass a bill to cap greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global
warming. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, frustrated by the lack of
action on the part of the Bush administration, teamed up with the
state's Democratic majority on the landmark legislation. The state
wants to reduce emissions by 25 percent by the year 2020. A recent
report suggested the measure would add 60 billion dollars to the
state's economy and create 17,000 jobs every year. Experts believe
the move has considerably increased Schwarzenegger's chances at
being re-elected as governor, ORF online news writes. Indeed, recent
polls seem to indicate Schwarzenegger's chances for the November
election have increased again: Currently, 49 percent of Californians
say they their governor is doing a good job, while in June 47
percent of the state's voting population said they do not want
Schwarzenegger re-elected as governor. ORF online news also notes
that this is the second time the California governor has actively
opposed US President Bush's policy: In June, Schwarzenegger
dismissed Bush's call for a deployment of additional National Guard
troops to the United States' borders with Mexico.

UN Troops for Darfur


9. The UN Security Council has voted to create a peacekeeping force
in Sudan's Darfur region to avert a new humanitarian disaster, says
independent provincial daily Salzburger Nachrichten. It wants to
deploy 17,300 soldiers to the crisis-ridden region, but the Khartoum
government has rejected the resolution as illegal, warning it would
not let the soldiers into the country.


No End to Violence in Iraq


10. A series of explosions, which devastated homes in the Iraqi
capital Baghdad, has left more than 60 people dead and wounded over

250. The United States has meanwhile expanded its force in Iraq by
15,000 to 140,000 troops. US President Bush has meanwhile ruled out
an early American withdrawal from the country, claiming such a move
would turn Iraq into a terrorist state even more dangerous than
Afghanistan under Taleban rule. Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung
quotes the US President as stressing Iraq left to its own devices
would be particularly dangerous, because the country could tap into
its huge oil reserves to finance terrorist activities. According to
ORF online news, George Bush denies there are any indications of a
civil war in Iraq, despite the recent surge of violence there. In
fact, only "a small number of Iraqis" was involved in the
religious-motivated violence. The US was fighting the decisive
"ideological battle of the 21st century" against the successors of
"Fascists, Nazis, and Communists" in Iraq, the US President said.
McCaw