AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: October 1, 2007

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SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: October 1, 2007

Prominent Politicians Testify in Bawag Trial


1. After a week's hiatus, the Bawag trial will resume on Monday with
more prominent politicians testifying. The first to testify is
former Federal Chancellor Franz Vranitzky, followed by former
Vice-Governor of the National Bank, Gertrude Tumpl-Gugerell. On
Wednesday, former Minister of Finance and current Meinl-Power
Manager Karl-Heinz Grasser as well as current President of the
Chamber of Labor Herbert Tumpl will appear before the court. Some of
the witnesses have already been interrogated - for example
Vranitzky, who received an honorarium of 72,000 euros from
investment banker Wolfgang Flttl, allegedly for his role as a
consultant. [ORF online, Oe1 radio morning news]

Reformer Prll for Majority Voting System


2. On Monday, the "perspective group" headed by Minister for the
Environment Josef Prll, which has worked out guidelines for the
future OeVP policy, will make a case for the introduction of a
majority voting system. Several options are on the table that will
now be discussed. Also, the group has made various suggestions
concerning family policy - "family splitting" that will lead to
extensive tax benefits for families - and the future status of
homosexual partnerships. [Der Standard, p. 1 and 2]
The core points of the perspectives outlined by Josef Prll's
"perspective group" concern the family - its economic position will
be strengthened by so-called "family splitting," whereby the overall
income of a family will be divided by the number of family members
to help determine the amount of income tax to be paid by the
respective family. According to mass circulation tabloid "Neue
Kronenzeitung," this amounts to a 15th salary for families. The SPOe
objects to this proposal and has already labeled it "retro" and an
"ideological relic." SPOe spokesman Josef Kalina argues that family
taxation, which was abolished by former Chancellor Bruno Kreisky,
"primarily benefits well-to-do families with only one earner, quotes
mass circulation daily "Kurier." With regard to the much-debated
"gay marriage" issue, the OeVP has proposed a "registered
partnership" which would give homosexual couples all the rights of
regular marriage - except for the right to adopt children, reports
independent daily "Der Standard." The daily also analyses Prll's
proposals with regard to the various leadership claims within the
OeVP and comes to the conclusion that Josef Prll may have taken the
lead with regard to the debate about the future course of the OeVP,
but party boss Wilhelm Molterer has nevertheless staked out his
claim to lead the party into the next elections and assume the
chancellorship.

Plassnik Critical of US Policy


3. Austrian Foreign minister Ursula Plassnik ended her New York trip
on the occasion of the UN General Assembly with cautious criticism
of the US administration. She warned that "no one, not even the most
powerful [state] can master the challenges of the 21st century
alone" and added that "unilateralism and nationalism will lead to a
dead end" - an allusion to the US policy in Iraq. In her speech
before the UN General Assembly, Plassnik called for a new, global
partnership. [Die Presse, Sa, p. 8]
In an interview with centrist daily "Die Presse," the Austrian
Foreign Minister summed up her New York trip and stressed the good
cooperation with Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, who had
likewise been at the UN General Assembly. She pointed out Austria's
connections with the Pacific states concerning the dialogue about
climate change and emphasized her contacts with 15 representatives
of West Africa - in preparation of the November conference in
Burkina Faso. These "exotic" meetings have to be seen against the
backdrop of Austria's efforts to gain a seat in the UN Security
Council, writes the daily. In New York, Plassnisk also met with her
Syrian colleague Muallem, and in this respect, she was pleased to
note that the US is now prepared to include Syria in the Middle East
peace effort. "It is important that Syria uses this chance and
commits itself in Lebanon in a constructive way," said the Foreign
Minister and added that the development of relations between the EU
and Syria depends on that.

Timochenko ahead in Ukrainian Parliamentary Elections


4. The promoters of the so-called "orange revolution" have
apparently achieved a majority in the early parliamentary elections
that took place on Sunday. According to the projected results, the
party of former Prime Minister Julia Timochenko is ahead with 33.38
percent of the votes, almost ten percent more than in the elections
ten months ago. The early election was made necessary because of the
political crisis that has blocked the country for months - the
divide between the pro-Russian camp of current Prime Minister Viktor
Yanukovich and the recently reconciled pro-Western alliance of the
orange revolution of opposition leader Timochenko and the current
President Yushchenko. The latter announced before the elections that
he was prepared to work together with his former political ally
Timochenko. [ORF online, Oe1 radio morning news]
Both President Yushchenko and Julia Timochenko have already ruled
out a coalition with acting Prime Minister Yanukovich, reports ORF
online. The Kremlin is threatening to intervene indirectly -
depending on the final outcome of the elections, Russia will set the
price for gas deliveries. ORF online quotes the Ukrainian daily
"Kommersant," which, citing Russian gas supplier "Gazprom as its
source, asserts that the price of future gas deliveries will lie
between 102 and 123 euros per cubic meter if Yanukovich heads the
new government - if opposition leader Timochenko takes over,
however, the price could be raised to 162 euros per cubic meter.
Mass circulation daily "Kurier" has predicted that whoever heads the
new Ukrainian government will have much to contend with: A complete
re-structuring of the state's institutions. Their weakness became
apparent in the spring when the President had wanted to fire the
Prosecutor General and the later refused to leave his post and
barricaded himself in his office with the backing of the Prime
Minister. A situation like this is attributable to an unclear
constitution that does not provide for a precise division of
competencies between Prime Minister and President, writes the daily.


Bush Wants Measurable Progress in Climate Protection


5. At a climate summit hosted by the US government in Washington, at
which 16 large industrial nations participated, US President Bush
intends to build a new consensus in the climate protection issue. In
the run-up to the summit, critics had claimed that Washington was
trying to undermine the respective efforts of the United Nations.
The US tried to allay these concerns by stressing the necessity for
joint action. In her opening speech, Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice said that "[we] all need partners" and called for an
international consensus in the climate issue. However, the
approaches differ in just this respect: While the UN emphasizes the
necessity for binding targets, the Bush administration holds that
the individual countries must decide on the respective steps to
ensure climate protection. In his address before the delegates on
Friday, Bush admitted, however, that "these measures must yield
measurable results." This concession is seen as an important step
towards a rapprochement of the two diametrically opposed positions.
[Die Presse, Sa, p. 8]
The Bush administration insists that large nations such as India and
China have to be included in any climate targets. According to the
White House advisor for environmental issues, Jim Connaughton, these
states will soon overtake the industrial nations as main producers
of emissions - therefore, effective climate protection is only
possible with their participation, he maintains. Summing up the
conference, centrist daily "Die Presse" points out that, despite
much skepticism, Bush's change of heart on the climate issue was
acknowledged. Since his inauguration in 2001, when Bush outright
rejected Kyoto, his position has changed considerably - at the G-8
summit in Germany, he had to contend with the fact that climate
policy was a major issue and reacted to this by proposing the
conference in Washington. In Germany, the US President for the first
time endorsed a new global climate protection agreement. On the
other hand, Bush has simply skipped the UN climate summit, points
out Oe1 evening radio news, which is decidedly more skeptical about
any fundamental change in US policy. "Even if President Bush has
announced a global fund for the promotion of
environmentally-friendly technologies - one thing has become
unmistakably clear at the climate summit in Washington: It will
become very difficult at the big UN climate conference in Bali in
December.

Junta Triumphs


6. After the junta has stifled the protest in the Burmese capital of
Rangun over the weekend, there is now a tense calm. Hundreds of
monks and civilians were arrested over the past few days - they have
disappeared and nothing is known of their fate. The number of dead
is also uncertain. In the meantime, UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari
has visited Burma for talks - so far without results. According to
reports, junta boss General Than Shwe has denied him a meeting.
Nothing is known about Gambari's talks with opposition leader Suu
Kyi either. [Salzburger Nachrichten, other Austrian media]
Apparently, Beijing, which has contacts to the junta and means to
exert influence does not consider the unrest bad enough to intervene
- after all, neither the regime nor the region have been
destabilized, writes independent daily "Salzburger Nachrichten." In
the meantime, the state-controlled television station has shown
protest marches that were directed against the freedom movement. The
members of the so-called "Union Solidarity and Development
Association," which is likewise state-controlled, are celebrated as
heroes and now hunt down the last demonstrators. For years, the USDA
has assisted the junta in striking down protests. Independent daily
"Der Standard" quotes unidentified diplomats in Rangun as giving a
dire assessment of the situation. "I think that the chances of the
demonstrators to go out into the streets and mobilize enough people
to topple the junta are zero," one of them is quoted as saying.
McCaw