AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: August 6, 2007

UNCLAS VIENNA 002076 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: August 6, 2007 Vice-Chancellor Rejects Early Tax Reform ¶1. In an interview with independent daily "Der Standard," Vice Chancellor and Minister of Finance Wilhelm Molterer has expressly rejected the idea of bringing forward the proposed tax reform. He referred in this context to the OeVP goal of uniting "sustainability, tax reform and zero deficit." He responded to a respective demand from Fritz Neugebauer from the VAAB, a partial organization of the OeVP which represents laborers and employees. Neugebauer urged for tax relief for the middle class as well as a more intense discussion of the possibility of financing the social net through capital revenues. According to Molterer, the economy is not likely to slow down before 2009/10 - therefore the need for a tax reform does not arise before that. That s not the only dismissive answer, which the Vice-Chancellor has given to political proposals from his party and the SPOe recently. In his interview with independent daily "Der Standard," Molterer also rejected a proposal of Christoph Leitl, head of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, to the effect that the present limits to the income people, who are at the same time beneficiaries of child allowance, can earn should fall. Also, Molterer sees no necessity for young fathers to take a month off work immediately after the birth of their children, arguing that the new child allowance regulations already provided for the possibility of a six-month absence of fathers from their jobs. In the interview, Molterer also referred to an issue which the Styrian OeVP has brought up: the introduction of a majority voting system. Such a fundamental decision could only be made with the consensus of all parties, Molterer pointed out, adding that "I don't see this at the moment." Vranitzky Advocates Majority Voting System ¶2. In an interview with independent daily "Der Standard," former Chancellor Franz Vranitzky opted for the introduction of a majority voting system. He referred to the need for "courageous political decisions" which have currently slowed down in Europe by the necessity for long-drawn out negotiations to find a political consensus, the former Chancellor said, adding that "we need new majority systems." In the interview with independent daily "Der Standard," former Chancellor Vranitzky, who led a grand coalition government for more than ten years, refers to the major difference between the grand coalition of his time and today: "We still had a number of common interests." Vranitzky criticizes the eternal quarrelling going on in the present coalition on major social or educational issues - saying that they must be 'grueling' to the citizens. However, he also insisted that attempts to create a new system must not be dominated by a 'winner-takes-all' mentality - one would have to find a way to make a potential new majority voting system "minority-friendly,' thus protecting the smaller parties, who must not be destroyed by a 'steamroller system.'" Rice Can Be Satisfied ¶3. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has just returned from her Middle East trip and overall, she can be satisfied with the results, analyzes Oe1 radio morning news. Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet in the West Bank where Abbas has withdrawn after the Hamas victory. The two political leaders will discuss a joint basic agreement for a two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "There is no doubt that Olmert and Abbas are seeking a rapprochement," concludes Oe1 radio morning news. [Oe1 radio morning news] Polish Coalition Faces Breakdown ¶4. After weeks of quarrelling, the boss of the Farmer's Party Andrezej Lepper has withdrawn his cabinet ministers. The government is now at the end of the rope. Lepper accused Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski of being responsible for the breakdown of the coalition and announced that he would start an all-out fight against the Prime Minister. In early July, Kaczynski had dismissed Lepper from his positions as Vice-Prime Minister because of an alleged shady real estate deal, of which, however, he never presented any proof. [Kurier, p. 4] Karzai Meets Bush ¶5. Afghan President Hamid Karzai met with US President George W. Bush at Camp David for the beginning of two-day consultations on Sunday. Aside from the hostage crisis and the overall worsening security situation, the two Presidents discussed the high number of civilian casualties in the fight of coalition troops against Taliban and terrorists. Before his departure for the US, Karzai, in an interview with CNN, again rejected concessions to the kidnappers, saying that, while he wanted to do all he could to ensure a safe release of the hostages, he did not intend to set actions that would "encourage the kidnappers." It is expected that President Bush, in the continuation of the talks on Monday, will urge his Afghan colleague not to give in to the demands of the kidnappers of the 21 South Korean hostages, writes centrist daily "Die Presse." In the meantime, the South Korean government advocates an agreement with the kidnappers, but admitted that it has no effective means to influence the decision of the Afghan government. The situation of the hostages is dramatic, reports the daily, referring to an interview of the "Korea Times" with a Taliban spokesman who said that 16 of the 21 hostages are ill, two of them seriously. Meanwhile, charges have been raised that the Pakistani intelligence service was involved in the kidnappings, but these were rejected by Pakistan. License for Spying ¶6. 41 Democrats have made it possible: The US authorities now may wiretap suspicious telephone calls and emails abroad that use US communications systems without a respective judicial decision. A law to this effect was passed on the weekend by the House of Representatives, after the Senate had already given the green light on Friday. According to independent daily "Der Standard," the new amendments modified the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, which, until amended, provided for a panel of judges to decide about the legitimacy of wiretapping actions. The court had judged recently that no wiretapping operations could be conducted without its consent - which was the reason the President opted for its reform. The Republicans in Congress welcomed the new law, claiming that it enhances national security and "closes a loophole in our surveillance laws," as the minority leader in the House of Representatives, John Boehner put it. According to the head of the National Security Agency (NSA) Mike McConnell, the new measures are necessary to "protect the citizens from attacks that are currently in planning and are intended to cause major losses to the US." The new regulations will be in force for six months for the time being, reports "Der Standard." Big Money With War ¶7. Centrist daily "Die Presse" lists the current record profits of the US weapons industry. Due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the generosity of the US administration when it comes to spending money on homeland security and supporting its allies, major US weapons companies were able to increase their profits by between 15 and 34 percent, thus making weapons deals a booming business - as it had not been since the Cold War. Centrist daily "Die Presse," in its cover story on the enormous profits of the US weapons industry, refers to the most recent promises of the Bush administration to Middle East countries to supply them with armament, - a move which will guarantee top profits for the US weapons industry for years to come. In addition, the daily points out the record high in projected military spending for 2007 - 533 billion dollars - almost half of the world's military expenses. And that is not even counting the sums that other ministries, such as the Department for Homeland Security or the Department for Energy spend on security measures - together, these expenditures amount to 987 billion dollar, estimates Robert Higgs, of the think-tank "Independent Institute." Apart from the beneficial effect on the US economy, the weapons deals secure millions of jobs. This is also the reason why Congress has a vested interest in supporting the flourishing weapons industry - the respective companies have subsidiaries in the entire US and many voting districts. The companies, on the other hand, reward good behavior on the part of representatives by giving generous donations to the election campaigns of parties and politicians, explains "Die Presse." Kilner