AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: October 10, 2006

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SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: October 10, 2006


OePV Leadership Prepares for Coalition Negotiations


1. The OeVP leadership will hold special consultations today to
establish guidelines for coalition negotiations with the SPOe. OeVP
party boss Wolfgang Schuessel, who will nominate the other members
of the negotiation team, will probably lead the negotiations.
Centrist daily "Die Presse" reports on rumors that the OeVP wants to
retain the Ministry of Finance in a new government - although not
under the leadership of the current Minister of Finance, Karl-Heinz
Grasser. Wilhelm Molterer, who could also become the next Vice
Chancellor, could succeed him. Josef Prll, now Minister of
Agriculture and Environment, could lead the Ministry of Economics.
It appears extremely unlikely that Wolfgang Schuessel himself will
hold a position in a possible coalition government. There are also
still misgivings with regard to a possible SPOe/OeVP coalition in
the People's Party. This hinges above all on the SPOe demand to
establish a parliamentary committee of enquiry with regard to the
Eurofighter deal. Also, there are fears on the part of the OeVP that
the SPOe will want to pursue a policy of debt accumulation, writes
"Die Presse."

Greens Ahead of FPOe After All Votes Are Counted


2. After all absentee ballots have been counted, the Greens have won
an additional seat from the BZOe, which gives them third place
(previously held by the FPOe) and would allow them to nominate a
candidate for the office of Third President of the Federal Assembly
- traditionally the privilege of the party that comes in third in
the elections. The Greens will now have 21 seats in the Federal
Assembly, the same as the FPOe - but the Greens have a slender
winning margin of votes. For the Greens, the third place will also
bring a financial asset - more party funding by the state, amounting
to about 400,000 euros per year. In Carinthia, the Greens also
overtook the FPOe - they are now in fourth place after SPOe, BZOe,
and OeVP.

Fusion of BZOe and FPOe Predicted


3. Former Minister of Justice Dieter Boehmdorfer believes the two
parties should reunite. He was never a member of either party, but
always opposed a separation. In an interview with centrist daily
"Die Presse," he attacks the OeVP, saying it merely used the FPOe
for its own purposes, and that Chancellor Schuessel was concerned
only with his own party and did not care about the country. The
former Minister of Justice denied rumors that he was acting as
mediator between FPOe and BZOe to bring the two parties back
together. He also adamantly rejected the idea that there could be a
coalition of OeVP, FPOe and BZOe with himself as Vice-Chancellor.
"Even the question is distasteful to me," Boehmdorfer said in the
interview. He was optimistic that the FPOe will in due time undergo
a change for the better and incorporate the BZOe once again into its
ranks.


North Korea Has the Nuclear Bomb


4. After the announcement of a first successful test of a nuclear
bomb, there are indications that North Korea might be preparing for
another test in spite of the international outrage this action has
created. The South Korean news agency "Yonhap" reportedly has
information about unusual movements in the country's northeastern
part. There is now increased concern that the testing of a nuclear
bomb by North Korea might spark off an arms race in Asia, writes
mass circulation daily "Kurier." Japan's Prime Minister Shinzu Abe
has already announced that his country is considering the option of
establishing a missile defense system together with the US and will
tighten sanctions against Pyongyang. In South Korea, the armed
forces have been put into a state of alert. The Director of the
Austrian Institute for International Politics, Otmar Hoell, warns of
imposing drastic sanctions - there is the danger that North Korea
will collapse altogether. That would be "a catastrophe for the
entire region," says Hoell. He predicts that the key to solving the
nuclear crisis lies with China, which "could really exert pressure."
The Iranian reaction to the North Korean nuclear tests were
moderate, reports "Kurier." Iran was hoping for a solution that
would "accommodate the interests of North Korea as well as that of
the international community," according to a statement issued by the
Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Media Reactions to North Korean Nuclear Weapons Test


5. The nuclear weapons test by North Korea and its repercussions
have been analyzed at length in the Austrian media. Foreign affairs
editor for centrist daily "Die Presse" Christian Ultsch warns of a
chain reaction: "Thanks to the far-reaching vision of the 'Dear
Leader,' the world is now looking into an abyss. A new nuclear arms
race seems almost unavoidable. Japan could be the next to drop its
nuclear inhibitions; South Korea would probably follow. Especially
bothersome is the situation for China, which wants peace and quiet
to catch up economically. South Korea, which was on its way into the
Chinese sphere of influence, will now probably revert to the US for
protection, as Japan has done recently. If everything goes wrong, a
confrontation is threatening to escalate between Washington and
China. Therefore, the two superpowers are called upon to pool their
resources and quietly try and bring Kim down. Then the security
system in Asia could be given new life."
Foreign affairs writer for independent daily "Der Standard" Markus
Bernath points out the connection between the North Korean and the
Iranian nuclear ambitions: "Pyongyang uses its own weakness - and
that of its adversaries-- to play politics. (...) Pyongyang and
Teheran have pushed US foreign policy onto the defensive in recent
months. For instance, North Korea's missile tests germinated during
the laborious process of coming up with the offer which the five UN
security powers and Germany made to Iran. Pyongyang would really
like to have such an offer. In turn, Teheran saw that nuclear
weapons can be built in the face of international disgust. Both
members of the 'axis of evil' have finally learned from India:
After the nuclear tests in 1990 and a number of sanctions, Delhi was
rewarded by the US with a special nuclear cooperation agreement."

Ban New UN Secretary General


6. It is now all but assured that South Korea's Foreign Minister Ban
Ki Moon will succeed Kofi Annan as UN Secretary General: On Monday,
the UN Security Council formally nominated Ban - now, a simple
consenting majority of the UN General Assembly is all that is
necessary to make it official.

Right Wing Party Loses in Antwerp


7. In the municipal elections in Belgium, the right-wing "Vlaams
Belang," while successful in smaller towns around the country, lost
in Antwerp, where the current mayor has won at least ten additional
seats for his party, therefore stopping the ascent of the "Vlaams
Belang." The policy of isolating the right-wing extremists has
proved successful, says independent daily "Der Standard." In none of
the municipal communities in Flanders has the "Vlaams Belang"
succeeded in preventing a government majority for the established
parties. The party under the leadership of Filip Dewinter is heavily
xenophobic and tried to win support with the slogan "Our own people
come first." Dewinter believes that the voting right for foreigners
and the migration of parts of the white population from the cities
to the countryside is responsible for the stagnation of his party,
writes "Der Standard."

OPEC Reduces Oil Production


8. According to leading representatives of OPEC, the organization
will cut oil production by about one million barrels per day,
following a recommendation of OPEC President Edmund Daukoru.
McCaw