AUSTRIAN SUPPORT FOR U.S. CANDIDATE VOSS

UNCLAS VIENNA 000512 SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (REMOVED MONTREAL PASS LINE) SIPDIS, SENSITIVE STATE FOR IO/T (LTOBEY),EB/TRA/OTP (BMATTINGLEY),AND EUR/AGS USEU FOR FAA (PFELDMAN) PARIS FOR FAA (LLIU) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL ICAO EAIR AU SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN SUPPORT FOR U.S. CANDIDATE VOSS BUILDING REF: (A) STATE 11373; (B) STATE 12863 (C) VIENNA 0282 ¶1. (SBU) In a February 10 telcon, Transportation Secretary Mineta asked his Austrian counterpart, Huberg SIPDIS Gorbach, to support the candidacy of William Voss ICAO Secretary General. On February 15, DCM pressed Voss's SIPDIS candidacy in a meeting with Eduard Mainoni, State Secretary in the Transportation ministry. Embassy SIPDIS delivered Secretary Mineta's letter to Gorbach, with copies to the Foreign Minstry and to the Director General of Civil Aviation in the Transportation Ministry. ¶2. (SBU) On February 17, Barbara Steiner, Gorbach's special advisor for EU and international issues, told Econoff that Gorbach had indicated his support for Voss in conversation with Secretary Mineta. However, Steiner said, Gorbach still needed to obtain agreement from Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik. Gorbach has already talked to Plassnik, Steiner said, and expects a final decision during the week of February 20. ¶3. (SBU) Mainoni similarly confirmed Gorbach's support for Voss, but he also reminded DCM that Gorbach had again asked Secretary Mineta for U.S. support for Philippe Rochat, the Swiss candidate for President of the ICAO council. Rochet has the support of ICAO's ABIS (Austria- Belgium-Ireland-Switzerland) group, which Austria currently heads. MCCAW