AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: April 18, 2007

UNCLAS VIENNA 001005 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: OPRC KPAO AU SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: April 18, 2007 ANGER OVER BAWAG CLOSURE OF ACCOUNTS Many Austrian politicians are calling on the government to withdraw all state business from bank Bawag after it closed accounts owned by people from Cuba. The bank is in the process of being handed over to its new owner, US investor Cerberus. Director General Ewald Nowotny has said the bank was forced to close the accounts to comply with a US embargo on business with Cuba, or lose the sale. Bawag is the main banker for the Austrian state, bringing it around five billion Euros worth of transactions a year, but the Austrian Finance Ministry has said it is not considering withdrawing its business from Bawag at the moment. [Wiener Zeitung] EUROFIGHTER TO DRAW UP OWN ASSESSMENT Eurofighter producer EADS has announced that in view of Austrian deliberations on a potential cancellation of the deal it is having its own expert opinion prepared on the planned sale of 18 of its interceptors to the Republic of Austria. Speaking on ORF television yesterday, Eurofighter boss Aloysius Rauen has also threatened the company would take legal action should Austria back out of the purchase agreement. He also dismissed suggestions Austria could buy fewer than 18 interceptor jets, according to Austrian media. [ORF TV's domestic news program Report] EUROPEAN UNION TURKEY WANTS TO BE FIT FOR EU IN 2014 Several Austrian media report that Turkey wants to get ready for EU membership by 2014 with a package of reform measures. Presenting the program developed by Ankara, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and Turkish EU negotiator Ali Babacan emphasized the planned measures would have a direct impact on the Turkish people's everyday lives. The far-reaching program is the result of months of cooperation of Turkish ministries, government offices and independent organizations, they explained. [ORF online news] DOMESTIC/INTERNATIONAL INTERVIEW WITH US TERROR EXPERT RAPHAEL PERL US terrorism expert Raphael Perl told journalists in a PAS-arranged press briefing on Tuesday that terrorism will likely be used increasingly in the future as a "tactics" or method to reach certain goals by spreading fear. Raphael Perl is a leading terrorism analyst for the "Congressional Research Service" in Washington, and is currently in Austria on a lecture tour. [Der Standard; other Austrian media] INTERNATIONAL AUTHORITIES LOOKING INTO BLACKSBURG SHOOTING The authorities investigating the shooting at the campus of Virginia Tech University in which 32 people were killed have identified the shooter as Cho Seung-hui, a 23-year-old student from South Korea. Police say the man who killed himself after the shooting spree likely acted alone. US President George Bush addressed a memorial service for the victims, saying it was "a day of sadness for our entire nation." Fellow students have described Seung-hui as "loner," Austrian media report, adding that rumors of an angry letter by the shooter containing explanations of his actions have not been confirmed. [all Austrian media] MEDIA REACTIONS ON VIRGINIA TECH TRAGEDY Austrian media commentaries generally tend to focus on the question whether or not the liberal US weapons laws were a major factor in the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech. KEY AUSTRIAN MEDIA ONLINE Domestic Anger Over Bawag Closure of Accounts ¶1. Many Austrian politicians are calling on the government to withdraw all state business from bank Bawag after it closed accounts owned by people from Cuba. The bank is in the process of being handed over to its new owner, US investor Cerberus. Director General Ewald Nowotny has said the bank was forced to close the accounts to comply with a US embargo on business with Cuba, or lose the sale. Bawag is the main banker for the Austrian state, bringing it around five billion Euros worth of transactions a year, but the Austrian Finance Ministry has said it is not considering withdrawing its business from Bawag at the moment. In an interview with independent daily "Der Standard," the boss of the Austrian Trade Union OeGB Rudolf Hundstorfer likewise argues that the sale of Bawag to Cerberus would not have been possible without closing the Cuban accounts, but criticizes the way in which this was done as "catastrophic." "Such a decision cannot simply be executed, especially since the bankers would have had another four weeks to do so." Other than that, Hundstorfer has no problem with the public outrage: True, the Americans have stipulated special conditions and we defer to those in other cases, too." In this context, he refers to the American view on how to fight money-laundering. His conclusion is that Bawag simply has to get through this "Cuban crisis." Eurofighter To Draw Up Own Assessment ¶2. Eurofighter producer EADS has announced that in view of Austrian deliberations on a potential cancellation of the deal it is having its own expert opinion prepared on the planned sale of 18 of its interceptors to the Republic of Austria. Speaking on ORF television yesterday, Eurofighter boss Aloysius Rauen has also threatened the company would take legal action should Austria back out of the purchase agreement. He also dismissed suggestions Austria could buy fewer than 18 interceptor jets, according to Austrian media. However, Rauen did confirm that options to reduce the costs of the Eurofighter jets were being explored, writes independent daily "Der Standard." In the meantime, Minister of Finance Wilhelm Molterer has decided that the Eurofighter committee will not be granted access to the entire document that deals with EADS lobbyist Erhard Steininger's role in the purchase of the jets. Molterer's reasoning that secrecy had to be guaranteed and the rights of third parties respected does not convince the chairman of the Eurofighter committee Peter Pilz. Centrist daily "Die Presse" quotes Pilz as saying that this was an attempt on the part of Molterer "to sabotage the work of the committee." This procedure was "illegal" and an "affront" against parliament. Pilz is considering summoning Molterer to appear before the committee. On Wednesday, some crucial testimonies will be made before the committee, among others by the Wolfs, who will have to explain why their company got 87,600 euros from lobbyist Steininger, who is at the same time a close friend of theirs. In the future, the legal prosecutor could become active in the Eurofighter issue, which is at present still at the parliamentary committee stage: "Die Presse" reports on possible legal action taken against Erich Wolf, the former commander of the air force and against the Rumpold couple. Turkey Wants To Be Fit For EU In 2014 ¶3. Several Austrian media report that Turkey wants to get ready for EU membership by 2014 with a package of reform measures. Presenting the program developed by Ankara, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and Turkish EU negotiator Ali Babacan emphasized the planned measures would have a direct impact on the Turkish people's everyday lives. The far-reaching program is the result of months of cooperation of Turkish ministries, government offices and independent organizations, they explained. Interview With US Terror Expert Raphael Perl ¶4. US terrorism expert Raphael Perl told journalists in a PAS-arranged press briefing on Tuesday that terrorism will likely be used increasingly in the future as a "tactics" or method to reach certain goals by spreading fear. Raphael Perl is a leading terrorism analyst for the "Congressional Research Service" in Washington, and is currently in Austria on a lecture tour. According to the terror expert, it will be more important to concentrate on finding adequate answers to the threat which terror poses for society. The threatened democratic institutions have to be able to react in an appropriate way to terror attacks, especially since they will have to accept a kind of "coexistence with terror" in the future. Austrian Press Agency (APA) quotes Perl as saying that "we glorify terror by focusing on its possible causes," adding that "now the focus of international terrorism conferences is on the criminal nature of terror, the criminal act itself." Also, the terror expert pointed to a change in motivation behind terror attacks - away from political claims or the striving for media attention, and more towards causing serious damage to economic systems - for instance energy supply, transport and especially the shipping traffic. In this respect, he refers to the fact that the decision makers at al-Qaida are for the most part engineers and "engineers think according to systems." Likewise, he outlines a growing tendency towards anonymity in terror attacks, stating his concern that in the future, a planed attack would be difficult to distinguish from human failure. Therefore, the US had changed its anti-terror strategy since 2001: Instead of focusing on the prevention of individual attacks, the capability of the democratic state to react to such attacks was considered to be the decisive factor. With regard to Austria, Perl sees the danger that the country is a "soft target" for terrorists: "The more liberal a society, the easier it becomes for terrorists," he concluded, according to APA. Independent daily "Der Standard" reports on Perl's belief that democratic societies will have to accept a permanent conflict between the need for civil liberties and that for security. In case of a new vast attack on the US, its citizens would favor restrictions of their liberties: "70 percent have said that they value security over individual freedom, "Der Standard" quotes Perl as saying. Authorities Looking Into Blacksburg Shooting ¶5. The authorities investigating the shooting at the campus of Virginia Tech University in which 32 people were killed have identified the shooter as Cho Seung-hui, a 23-year-old student from South Korea. Police say the man who killed himself after the shooting spree likely acted alone. US President George Bush addressed a memorial service for the victims, saying it was "a day of sadness for our entire nation." Fellow students have described Seung-hui as "loner," Austrian media report, adding that rumors of an angry letter by the shooter containing explanations of his actions have not been confirmed. All Austrian media give extensive coverage to the tragedy at Virginia Tech, giving details of the shooting and the situation on the campus after the massacre. The bloody deed has predictably triggered a discussion about its possible causes. Here, America's lax weapons laws are the central focus of the debate - independent daily "Salzburger Nachrichten" points out that in Virginia, the home of the world's most powerful weapons lobby, the National Rifle Association, 12-year old teenagers can already obtain a gun without being required to demonstrate that they have permission from their parents. This is one of the points criticized by the so-called "Brady Campaign" which argues for stricter weapons laws and has evaluated the regulations existing in various US states. Independent daily "Der Standard" headlines "Bush still favors free possession of weapons" pointing out that the President, for all his condemnation of the deed and expressions of regret and horror, has immediately defended the right of US citizens to own weapons. Likewise, Republican presidential candidate John McCain has spoken out in favor of this right, adding that "we have to make sure that this kind of weapons does not fall into the hands of bad people." The daily also refers to reactions in internet blogs which affirm the position of the NRA: Many bloggers argue that the amok run only took on such monstrous dimensions because the victims were not armed. With regard to the renewed debate about the possession of weapons in the US, "Salzburger Nachrichten" also points to the EU debate about tightening the laws regulating private ownership of weapons, which has been going on for some time and is independent of the recent events in the US. Media Reactions on Virginia Tech Tragedy ¶6. Austrian media commentaries generally tend to focus on the question whether or not the liberal US weapons laws were a major factor in the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech. Deputy chief editor for independent daily "Salzburger Nachrichten" Viktor Hermann points to the historic roots of the prevalent US belief in the power of the gun and draws parallels between the private use of violent means to settle conflicts and American foreign policy: "America's society is comparatively young - it still contains much of the spirit of the settlers' violent land-grabbing conquest. The constitution of the US contains the right to the pursuit of personal happiness - but also the right to defend what one has achieved with the gun. Small wonder then that many distorted individuals come to the conclusion that they are entitled to take what they want and take revenge as they see fit. According to the interpretation of the US citizens, violence is a means to solve problems, especially since the state serves as a model in this respect. The death penalty is legal practice in many US states. The US government considers it its privilege to solve problems on the international scene by using troops. Often, parts of American society appear like a group of teenage thugs in the eyes of Europeans - self-righteous and prepared to use violence. And sometimes, even Washington's foreign policy conveys the same impression. This existential awareness of a society, together with its almost perversely liberal weapons laws makes for an explosive mix which will easily go off." Foreign editor for mass circulation daily "Kurier" Livia Klingl likewise refers to parallels between the prevalent atmosphere in society and individual behavior: "In a society, though, which defines itself via - often imagined - enemies, which produces news broadcasts that are apt to trigger paranoia even in mentally stable individuals, a massacre at a university may be a shocking, but it is hardly a surprising occurrence. The children of people who glorify weapons and have perfected their ability to create enemy images as well as the respective computer games and TV broadcasts, live dangerously - not just in Iraq, but also at the universities." Commentator for centrist daily "Die Presse" Michael Pr|ller argues that new, stricter weapons laws are unlikely to have a preventive effect. While he acknowledges that "it seems to be the case that America's lax laws as well as America's trigger-happy mentality are both the result of a violent everyday culture in the United States. Just that is also the argument of the weapons owners," he concludes that "we have to come to terms with the fact that our attempts to attribute guilt and calls for new laws do not help. We have to accept that such extremely rare, out of the blue manifestations of man's bad nature may be prevented in individual cases by sheer lucky coincidence in individual cases - but there is o way society can prevent such things from happening. We are helpless in our mourning, our horror - that is something we have to accept." Kilner