AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: July 30, 2007

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SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: July 30, 2007


Molterer Reprimands Buchinger


1. In an interview with independent daily "Salzburger Nachrichten,"
Vice Chancellor Wilhelm Molterer criticizes his coalition colleague
Erwin Buchinger's latest political proposals. Buchinger's demand for
a four-percent pay rise for employees was an intervention into the
affairs of the social partners, said Molterer, and likewise
dismissed his SPOe colleague's idea that companies that are not
willing to hire older employees should contribute a larger share to
social security benefits. According to Molterer, nothing could be
gained by imposing "punitive taxes."
According to "Salzburger Nachrichten," Wilhelm Molterer advocates
lowering the non-wage labor costs for older employees. Molterer
criticizes Buchinger's over-eagerness with regard to coming forward
with new proposals: "Politics is not about making new suggestions
every day." Also, Molterer announced in the interview that the
coming tax reform will benefit the middle class and will generally
bring a simplification of the tax system. However, the next tax
reform will not come before 2010 - Molterer argues that it would be
"economically wrong" to do it now that the economy is growing as it
has not done in a long time. "We have to be able to afford a tax
reform first," Molterer said with reference to the still existing
state debt.

Fewer Applications for Austrian Citizenship


2. In all provinces of Austria, immigration applications have
decreased - in parts of the country by more than 50 percent. The
respective numbers were made public by the Ministry of the Interior
following a parliamentary enquiry by the Greens. In Vienna alone,
there were more than 21,000 applicants for Austrian citizenship in
2005, but only 824 in the first third of this year. The Greens
believe that the decrease is due to the tightening of the
immigration laws under the last government. [Der Standard, p. 1 and
7]


Schwarzenegger Turns 60


3. Austrian-born Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is
celebrating his 60th birthday on Monday. The former body-builder,
whose political ambitions were frequently belittled when he first
sought office, has in the meantime turned into a model politician,
who has earned widespread respect for his environmental and social
initiatives.
In the meantime, Schwarzenegger's performance as governor makes
headlines in the US: "Time" put him and New York's Mayor Michael
Bloomberg on the title page - as model examples for a hands-on
policy that is in sharp contrast to the ever-expanding, slow-moving
bureaucracy of the US capital. Schwarzenegger has learned a lot
during his time in office, analyses centrist daily "Die Presse,"
which, together with all other Austrian media covers the
Schwarzenegger birthday. After getting off to a bad start and losing
a lot of popularity and support, Schwarzenegger achieved a decisive
turnaround: With the help of new advisors and strategists, he
sought to build consensus with the Democratic majority in the
California State Senate and slowly drifted toward the political
center. He implemented new regulations for reducing gasoline demand,
came forward with a new law to reduce emissions and supported stem
cell research. His latest move to introduce a general health
insurance is currently being debated in the Sacramento legislature.
The next step up for Schwarzenegger could be a seat in the US
Senate, speculates "Die Presse."

Rice and Gates in the Middle East


4. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates have embarked on a trip to the Middle East in order to
discuss the situation in Iraq with representatives from the region.
Their goal is to win regional support for the stabilization of Iraq.
This is an issue where the Americans feel the Arab countries are not
doing enough - and behind the scenes, Arab diplomats do not even
deny this. In turn, the Arabs charge the US with supporting a
Sunni-hostile regime in Baghdad. After talks in Egypt and Saudi
Arabia, Rice and Gates will part ways: Rice will go on to Jerusalem
and Ramallah, while Gates will visit Kuwait and the Emirates. [ORF
online, Oe1 radio morning news]

US Plans to Provide Middle East with Arms Confirmed


5. The Americans are intending to deliver arms on a large scale to
Israel, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf states to strengthen them
against a hostile and aggressive Iran. Israel's Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert announced on Sunday that US President Bush had promised him
massive arms deliveries over the next ten years - thus confirming
statements by a US Defense Department official who had revealed the
plan earlier. More than 60 billion dollars will be spent on this
project.
Olmert understands the US intentions to support the moderate Arab
states, writes independent daily "Der Standard." After all, these
states, together with Israel and the US form a bulwark against Iran.
US administration officials also confirmed that it was the goal of
the military assistance to reduce the growing influence of Iran in
the Middle East. In the meantime, Tehran's Foreign Minister has
declared that his country was not afraid of a military coup on the
part of the US. The daily quotes from an interview of Foreign
Minister Mottaki with the German magazine "Focus," where he said
that he thought the US administration was not in a situation to
begin another military conflict, and referred to the fact that not
even the 170,000 US troops stationed in Iraq could guarantee
security - neither their own nor that of the Iraqis.

Defeat for Abe


6. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzu Abe suffered a severe defeat in
partial parliamentary elections on Sunday. His ruling Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP) lost its majority in the upper chamber of
Parliament. Winner of the elections is the opposition Democratic
Party (DPJ). First post-election analyses showed that primarily
young voters and disappointed senior citizens voted against the LDP.
At present, it is estimated that the DPJ may not just have gained
the majority of seats in the upper chamber, but may even end up with
double as many seats as the ruling party of Prime Minister Abe.
[Die Presse, p. 5]


Iraqis Want to Get Rid of Petraeus


7. David Petraeus, supreme military commander in Iraq, is
increasingly falling into disfavor.
Mass circulation daily "Vsterreich" reports on a possible further
setback for US President George W. Bush in Iraq: The tensions
between the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the US occupying
forces have escalated to the point where the Iraqis, behind the
scenes, are already demanding the dismissal of General David
Petraeus. However, the General has been the trump card in Bush's
strategy. The reason for Maliki's anger is the US decision to supply
Sunni groups in Iraq with weapons. Petraeus, on the other hand,
needs the Maliki regime's full support to be able to present
positive results about his mission to Congress in September.
Kilner