AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: November 14, 2007

UNCLAS VIENNA 002791 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: November 14, 2007 Agreement on Pensions ¶1. Members of the SPOe-OeVP coalition government and representatives from the retirees association agreed on Tuesday to raise pensions next year. Minimum pensions will be increased by 2.9 percent to 747 Euro per month. Pensions between 1,050 and 1,700 Euros will go up two percent. Those between 1,700 and 2,161.50 Euros will be raised by 1.7 percent, and people with pensions above 2,161.50 Euros will receive an additional 36.75 Euros per month. The deal will cost the government a million Euros more than expenditure forecasts predicted. The total cost of pensions in Austria, including those of civil servants, will amount to 584 million Euros. Experts have meanwhile warned that young people will bear the burden and pay the price in the long run for the higher-than-expected pension increase, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung reports. Proposal for New Middle Schools ¶2. After Education Minister Claudia Schmied from the Social Democrats and Science Minister Johannes Hahn last week reached an agreement on school reform following months of tough negotiations, an expert commission is expected to present its proposals regarding education in the planned comprehensive-type new middle schools today. A more active participation in class on the part of the students, who are to be working in smaller groups, and teams of teachers working with students to guarantee an approach better suited to meet students' individual talents and needs are among the commission's suggestions. "EU Citizens Storming Austria" ¶3. ... reads today's front-page headline in a leading Austrian daily. In its report on immigration trends and figures, the newspaper points out that the number of residents in Austria from other EU member states is growing steadily. Also, more and more EU citizens moving to Austria are planning to stay for good. The number of immigrants from South-Eastern Europe, however, is on the decline, according to the daily, quoting from a recent study entitled the "Second Austrian Immigration and Integration Report," which will be presented officially by the Austrian Academy of Sciences on Thursday. Another record development, the study says, is that "never before in the time of the Second Republic (i.e. since 1955) have so many immigrants come to Austria as now," quotes centrist daily Die Presse. "The US and Europe Should Learn from China's Universities" ¶4. ... US expert on Chinese history Professor William Kirby stressed at a lecture in Vienna last week. China is experiencing what Prof. Kirby described as a "renaissance of the humanities;" and a veritable "revolution of academic structures" has put the country on the path to creating "universities for the masses." This development, according to Kirby, is one that both American and European universities will have to respond to. Not only the number of Chinese universities has increased dramatically over the past twenty years, the number of students has also risen sharply, from 860,000 in 1987 to 26 million in 2006. Centrist daily Die Presse on November 10 published a report on a PAS-facilitated lecture in Vienna by US expert on Chinese history Professor William Kirby on international academic trends. According to Kirby, experts estimate that one of the direct consequences of the Chinese education boom will be a considerable rise in China's research revenues, which are expected to overtake those in the US within a decade. For Kirby, this development is "a challenge to US universities," given that in his view there is no reason to simply believe that the US will still be playing a leading role in that area in ten years. The West would also do well to take a leaf out of China's book when it comes to the latter's approach to the humanities: "China is taking the humanities and the liberal arts just as seriously as technical courses," Kirby pointed out. China has come to understand that any society is incomplete without classical education - an area that has been neglected for a while in Europe and the United States. China, Kirby concluded, has outgrown its role as a "copycat," and it is high time for the West to start learning from China." Rasmussen Wins Danish Elections ¶5. Denmark's governing coalition led by Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has won the country's general election, but with a slim majority. With all votes counted, the governing block has won 89 (90 according to some Austrian media) of the 179 seats in Parliament. Rasmussen said it was "historic" that the center-right liberal government had been elected for the third term. All Austrian media point out that Rasmussen's coalition has failed to win the absolute majority, and will therefore in future be forced to seek support from at least one independent MP from Greenland, or from the New Alliance, a new party headed by Syrian-born Palestinian immigrant Naser Khader. Iran Hands Over Nuclear Design Documents ¶6. Diplomats linked to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) say that Iran has handed over documents sought by the Agency in its attempts to clarify Tehran's past nuclear activities. According to reports by the Associated Press, the documents relate to designs for warheads. The IAEA is attempting to shed light on a potential secret nuclear program conducted by Iran in the 1980s and 1990s. The report by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei on whether Iran has met promises to fully reveal past activities is expected this week, says ORF radio early morning news Morgenjournal. Bhutto Wants Musharraf's Resignation ¶7. All Austrian media continue to report on developments in Pakistan. According to one leading Austrian daily, opposition leader and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has called on President Pervez Musharraf to step down. "It is time for Musharraf to go," the daily quotes Bhutto. She also warned of the possible dire consequences of emergency rule, which the President imposed earlier this month: "A failure to bring back democracy endangers Pakistan's existence." According to Bhutto, her party, the PPP, is planning to boycott the elections to be held in January, claiming that they are going to be "nothing but a show, with which the ruling Muslim League is trying to secure its power." Reporting on the situation in Pakistan, liberal daily Der Standard writes about what it calls the "General's last battle." After a long period of hesitation, Benazir Bhutto now openly opposes Pervez Musharraf, the daily says. Bhutto, the PPP leader, would have the power to mobilize Pakistan's masses against Musharraf, but up to now she has chosen not to do so. The truth is: The struggle for power in Pakistan is not being fought in the country's streets, but behind the scenes, the Standard suggests. And despite paying lip-service to the contrary, many Pakistanis are convinced that Bhutto has secretly "been toying with" Musharraf. Many people, particularly the bourgeois opposition, are deeply disappointed, and observers say that Bhutto has "lost a lot of credibility with them." On the other hand, "we cannot rule out that the military might decide to sacrifice Musharraf in the end," another observer told the Standard. In that event, the army would likely appoint someone else as president. And even if Musharraf remains in office, he will not have a lot to say any more. "Within three months time, Bhutto will be Pakistan's head of government - with or without Musharraf," the observer believes. The PKK Crisis ¶8. Reporting on developments in the Turkish and Iraqi Kurdish regions, a leading Austrian daily says that while 100,000 Turkish soldiers are awaiting their marching orders, the Kurdish population on both sides of the Turkish-Iraqi border continues to hope for a peaceful solution. Kurds in south-eastern Turkey feel that Ankara has abandoned them, and are "looking with longing" at the situation across the border in Iraq. Meanwhile, in northern Iraq, border troops seem willing to let the Turkish army carry out limited operations, stressing that the Iraqi Kurds "do not want the PKK, either." Turkey's Premier Erdogan has in the meantime announced that a Turkish military operation in north Iraq will be "launched before the beginning of winter," writes centrist daily Die Presse. McCaw