AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: October 31, 2006

UNCLAS VIENNA 003196 SIPDIS 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: October 31, 2006 The Eurofighter Committee ¶1. Despite massive protests from the OeVP and the BZOe, the Social Democrats -- with the support of the Greens and the Freedom Party -- went ahead during Parliament's first session yesterday with plans to create a committee to investigate the government's decision to purchase 18 Eurofighter jets. The three parties have also announced plans for an inquiry into recent banking scandals in Austria. Reporting on the issue like all Austrian media, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung quotes Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, who complained about the SPOe, Greens and FPOe's decision to vote for an investigation into the Eurofighter deal, saying for the OeVP it was an "incomprehensible" move, and a launch of the new parliamentary session in an atmosphere of "controversy, irreconcilability and suspicion." Centrist daily Die Presse meanwhile quotes from a decision by the OeVP leadership on the issue: The conservatives reject the SPOe's move as "a political tribunal, which calls into question Austrian airspace surveillance, criminalizes the acquisition of the interceptors and jeopardizes the offset deals." The OeVP also underscored that the Eurofighter purchase was the "most thoroughly-checked deal" in post WWII Austria. Coalition Talks on Hold ¶2. As threatened, the OeVP has broken off talks with the Social Democrats on forming the next coalition government. People's Party leader Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said the SPOe's decision to join the Greens and the FPOe in voting for a parliamentary investigation into his government's purchase of Eurofighter interceptor jets was a "breach of trust." The OeVP's decision to call off coalition talks with the SPOe is front-page news in all of Austria. Like the majority of Austrian media, mass-circulation provincial daily Kleine Zeitung believes that with the OeVP's move, a re-run of the October 1 general elections in Austria has become even more likely than before. According to independent provincial daily Salzburger Nachrichten, the SPOe has already threatened to push for such a decision, and quotes Social Democrats' heavyweight and Vienna Mayor Michael Haeupl as warning that if the OeVP leaves the negotiation table, there is no way new elections can be avoided." According to the newspaper, no-one appears to be unduly concerned over the "specter of an election re-run." Not only the SPOe and the Greens, but the OeVP, too, could profit from such a move, the Salzburger Nachrichten believes. It is also not clear how long President Heinz Fischer will tolerate an interruption of coalition negotiations, the daily adds. Fischer will hold talks with the leaders of Austria's two major parties, Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel and SPOe boss Alfred Gusenbauer. SPOe's Reaction ¶3. In response to the OeVP's decision to call off coalition negotiations, the Social Democrats have harshly criticized the Conservatives. SPOe party manager Norbert Darabos spoke of an "overreaction" on the part of the Conservatives, and demanded that Chancellor Schuessel's government resign. "The OeVP's canceling of the coalition talks shows that they still aren't over the election outcome," Darabos said. After the OeVP's decision last night to halt coalition talks with the SPOe, the Social Democrats urged the government to resign. Party manager Norbert Darabos, however, emphasized that it is still too early for a motion of no-confidence, ORF online news writes. Nevertheless, Darabos added, the current cabinet was apparently no longer willing to work for Austria, and should therefore either make room for a new government or for a new negotiation team within the OeVP. It was now up to the President to call the shots, Darabos continued, stressing that his party "remains interested in cooperation with the Conservatives, as this would reflect the will of the voters." Unlike Vienna Mayor Michael Haeupl, the party manager emphasized that although this was an option which could not be ruled out entirely, it was too early at this point to speculate about an election re-run, however. He is confident that there is "still time for the OeVP to come to its senses," and return to the negotiation table, in which case the Social Democrats would "of course continue with the coalition talks, ORF online quotes Bad Marks for Turkey ¶4. In its progress report on Turkey, to be published next week, the EU Commission has listed shortfalls in areas including abolition of torture, implementation of increased control over the country's armed forces, and freedom of speech. Sourcing the Financial Times Deutschland, which says it has acquired a draft of the EU Commission's progress repot on Turkey, ORF online news writes that as proof for the insufficient control over the Turkish military the newspapers cites the army's strategy to continue to publish statements on "domestic and foreign policy, the issue of the Kurds, and the separation of church and state." In addition, freedom of opinion was not guaranteed, the Commission claims: There were "reports on cases of abuse and torture, particularly outside of state correction facilities." Further shortfalls listed in the report are corruption, the insufficient protection of minorities, and a lack of independence on the part of the judiciary. The Commission's report also criticizes Ankara's refusal to open its air- and seaports to Cypriot ships and planes, despite the EU's view that Turkey is obliged to do so. Bush on Democrats and Iraq ¶5. In an election campaign speech, US President George Bush has accused the Democrats of not having a strategy for Iraq. Speaking in Statesboro, Georgia, yesterday, President Bush complained that "if you listen closely to the Democrats' plan for success - they don't have one." ORF online news reports on a campaign speech by US President Bush, who emphasized that although Iraq is the key front in the US fight against terrorism, the Democrats had no plan for victory there. It was the Democrats "goal to pull out of Iraq, while the Republicans' objective was to win there," Bush stressed. Leading Senate Democrat Harry Reid dismissed the President's allegations, saying Bush was "desperately trying to cling to power and to avoid accountability." The US "does not need a new PR campaign. We need a Commander-in-Chief who understands that it is about time to abandon the misleading and divisive rhetoric and to bring about a change of course," ORF online news quotes Reid. Like many Austrian media, ORF online suggests that the Republicans are likely to lose their majority in both Houses of Congress in the November 7 election. The online news provider concedes that the Democrats have no uniform party policy on Iraq. Midterm Election Campaigns ¶6. An Austrian daily publishes an analysis of the campaigns one week ahead of the mid-term elections on November 7, saying the political parties' aggressive mobilization strategies as well as the debate on moral and ethic values has alienated the political mainstream in the US. Foreign affairs writer Christoph Winder publishes an analysis of the campaigns for the US November 7 midterm elections in liberal daily Der Standard. Winder quotes Sen. John Danforth as trying to make the American public aware of the dangers of politics and moral positions being too closely connected. In a recently published book entitled "Faith and Politics," Danforth argues that the debate over "moral values" has divided the US and therefore needs to be abandoned quickly. The former Senator from Missouri is concerned about his observation that US policy has "experienced a change for the worse," since his career in Washington. The aggressive stance, with which political parties today attempted to mobilize their bases on so-called moral value topics including abortion or same-sex marriages, was a new and deplorable development, Winder quotes. According to Danforth, such tactics merely lead to a strengthening of extreme positions and to a marginalization of centrist or mainstream political groups and parties. He emphasized, though, that the majority of Americans reject such extreme positions. It remains to be seen, however, whether the Republicans will persevere again as the guardians of decency and moral superiority in the November 7 vote, Winder says. After all, the recent sex scandals have severely damaged their image, the foreign affairs writer states. US Weapons Disappearing in Iraq ¶7. According to a Pentagon report, four percent of the weapons the US has delivered to the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior to build up Iraqi security forces have disappeared. The weapons may never be traced, as fewer than three percent of the arms sent to Iraq have been registered or their serial numbers listed. According to a report in liberal daily Der Standard, there is reason to suspects that many of the disappeared US weapons originally provided for the Iraqi security forces may have ended up in the hands of Iraqi insurgents, and could thus be used against US forces in the country. Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung meanwhile writes that the US wants to curb ethnic violence in Iraq. Sourcing Jordanian newspaper Al-Arab Al-Yawm, the daily says a meeting between US military representatives and Iraqi insurgents is being prepared in Jordan's capital Amman. The Wiener Zeitung reports on ongoing violence, particularly in the Shiite Sadr City area in Baghdad, which is considered a stronghold of the so-called Mahdi militia responsible for countless attacks on Sunni citizens in the Iraqi capital. ORF radio early morning news Morgenjournal meanwhile reports that US Vice-President Dick Cheney has claimed al Qaeda and insurgents in Iraq have increased violence against US troops to try to influence the outcome of the midterm elections next week. Pakistan: Protests after Raid on Koran School ¶8. In Pakistan over 10,000 mourners, who were gathered for the funeral of people killed in a helicopter strike on an Islamic school, have protested against their government's alliance with the US, and against their military. At a gathering of mourners in Pakistan for people killed in a raid on a Koran school, local Islamist leaders said most of the victims were students. Pakistani authorities, however, have said only militants were killed in the raid. The Pakistani government under President Pervez Musharraf had recently come under pressure from the US to provide more support in the fight against terrorism by moving against the semi-autonomous tribal regions near the Afghan border, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung explains. McCaw