AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: December 07, 2006

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SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: December 07, 2006


Fischer Speaks Out On Haubner Law


1. President Heinz Fischer has harshly criticized a Social Affairs
Ministry decree denying family benefits to the children of some
foreign-born women in Austria as "untenable." In a speech Wednesday,
Fischer called for the regulation to be taken back. He pleaded for
"fairness instead of unfairness, and laws that support children
instead of excluding them." The some 150 hardship cases cited by
Social Affairs Minister Ursula Haubner were "150 cases too many,"
Fischer warned.
In addition to President Fischer's strong criticism of the Social
Ministry's decree on family benefits, political parties including
the SPOe and the Greens, and high-ranking Christian representatives
in Austria, a group of leading Austrian NGOs are also continuing
their criticism of Social Affairs Minister Ursula Haubner from the
BZOe over her unwillingness to back down over the decree denying or
delaying family payments to non-Austrian mothers residing legally in
this country, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung reports.


SPOe and OeVP Taking Their Time


2. There has been no genuine progress lately in the ongoing
negotiations on the formation of a grand coalition. The SPOe and
OeVP seem to be in no hurry, and a government is still along way
off. Austrian media speculate the two parties could be playing for
time in order to prevent a grand coalition at the last moment.
President Fischer has meanwhile urged the negotiation partners to
speed up the process.
Although the SPOe and the OeVP together with representatives from
the business and labor sectors, held a sixth round of talks on
forming a coalition government Wednesday, progress has been slow,
and many issues remain unresolved, all Austrian media report.
Mass-circulation tabloid Kronen Zeitung runs the front-page headline
"SPOe and OeVP Reaching Impasse," arguing that a grand coalition
would only make sense if major projects can be implemented. However,
for many of the two parties' key issues, including pension and
education reform or the so-called basic security payments, there is
not enough money to do so. Meanwhile, mass-circulation tabloid
Oesterreich believes the still-to-be-formed grand coalition
government is already in a crisis: The daily suggests that instead
of achieving progress, the SPOe and the OeVP have merely been
quarrelling during their coalition talks. The Social Democrats are
now concerned the Conservatives could be preparing to bail out of
the negotiations altogether.


Turkey Planning Sanctions against EU


3. Should the European Union decide to put the Turkish membership
process on hold, as it has threatened in the face of Ankara's
refusal to recognize Cyprus, Turkey could reply with "sanctions"
which, according to Turkish media, could include a stop to Ankara's
cooperation with the EU regarding the Middle East conflict and the
Iranian nuclear program, as well as on Europe's anti-drug, refugees
and energy policies.
After Austrian media earlier today suggested Turkey could impose
"punitive measures" against the EU, should the Europeans suspend
membership talks with Ankara, there have been further developments:
According to a report by ORF online news, there has been movement in
the dispute over Turkey's refusal to recognize Cyprus. A
spokesperson for the Finnish EU Presidency announced that Ankara has
signaled it is prepared to come around: Turkey says it is going to
open one seaport and one airport for ships and planes from Cyprus,
the spokesperson stated. Ankara has not yet confirmed these reports,
which have also been floated in the Finnish media, writes ORF online
news.


Tough Iraq Study Group Report


4. The report published Wednesday by the Iraq Study Group has
President George Bush "in a tight spot," according to ORF
television. The report contains some uncomfortable facts, describing
the situation in Iraq as "grave and deteriorating," and -- as
expected -- recommends a drastic change of course of Washington's
policy. Both Republicans and the Democrats, however, see the Baker
Commission report as an opportunity to change the situation for the
better. "The question remains whether President Bush will follow the
group's recommendations," ORF TV comments.
All Austrian media give extensive coverage to the report on Iraq
published Wednesday by the Baker Commission. According to liberal
daily Der Standard, the report warns of potential civil war in Iraq,

which would affect the entire region, and suggests the United States
should launch direct negotiations with Syria and Iran. In centrist
daily Die Presse, Washington correspondent Norbert Rief writes that
one of the study group's proposals, calling for direct talks with
Syria and Iran to bring abut a stabilization of Iraq, presents a
sharp contrast to the White House's policy on the two countries so
far. A new strategy in Iraq is needed to guarantee success, the
Commission says. Meanwhile, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung
reports that President Bush has said he will take the Commission's
recommendation very seriously, although he may not follow all of
them. Both mass-circulation daily Kurier and mass-circulation
provincial daily Kleine Zeitung argue that the report is a "blow"
and an "embarrassment for President Bush." Mass-circulation tabloid
Kronen Zeitung even writes about a "death blow for President Bush's
Iraq policy."


Senate Confirms Gates


5. Robert Gates has been confirmed as the next US Defense Secretary,
replacing Donald Rumsfeld who stepped down last month. The Senate
approved President George Bush's nominee just a day after Gates won
the unanimous endorsement of the Senate's Armed Services Committee.
The incoming Pentagon chief told the Senate Committee the US was not
winning the war in Iraq and said he was open to new policy ideas.
Senior columnist for mass-circulation daily Kronen Zeitung Ernst
Trost commented on the confirmation of Robert Gates as new US
Defense Secretary: "Robert Gates impressed the senators with his
refreshing realism. He analyzed the developments in Iraq and the
mistakes that were made there as a reasonable human being, without
the ideological blinkers of the neoconservative liberation and
democratization ideologues. Now would be the time for these insights
to pervade the walls of preconceived opinions around President Bush,
and for the White House boss to give up his chosen isolation from
the painful truth."
McCaw