AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: February 16, 2007

UNCLAS VIENNA 000419 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: KPAO AU OPRC SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: February 16, 2007 BZOe Boss Implicated in Bawag Scandal ¶1. BZOe boss Peter Westenthaler is coming under fire in the Bawag affair. On Thursday, former Minister of Justice Karin Gastinger confirmed towards centrist daily "Die Presse" that he tried "very, very cautiously" to intervene on behalf of investment banker Wolfgang Flttl, who lost the Bawag billions of euros through speculations. If this charge turns out to be true, this could constitute instigation to an abuse of authority. The Greens are already considering filing charges with the legal authorities - the Viennese prosecutor's office has announced that they might act of their own accord on this matter, however, "a decision has not been made yet," as a spokesman of the prosecutor's office told "Die Presse." The main reason why Westenthaler has allegedly attempted to intervene for Wolfgang Flttl is that the latter had documents that Westenthaler hoped would provide ammunition for the BZOe election campaign, said Christoph Pchinger from the Vienna prosecutor's office. Gastinger confirmed this and spoke of two intervention attempts on the part of the BZOe, reports independent daily "Salzburger Nachrichten." The BZOe boss had asked both her and Pchinger about the current status quo with regard to the Flttl issue, Gastinger remembers. The prosecutor's office had then made clear that there must be no political intervention in the matter, writes the daily. Westenthaler has rejected the charges as "nonsense." He admitted to having intervened with Gastinger - openly, as he claimed - because he thought the whole procedure was too slow. Elsner: Little Chance of Freedom ¶2. Former Bawag boss Helmut Elsner has little chance of going free on bail for the time being. Currently he is in the Wilhelminenspital, to which he was taken from prison to check the state of his health by the best specialists. The prosecutor has spoken out against letting Elsner go free on bail, because a flight risk cannot be substituted for by bail. Contrary to previous reports, Elsner will not appear before the committee that investigates the bank scandal. Only after Helmut Elsner has been released from the hospital can he be interrogated by the investigation committee. Its next sessions are on February 21, 26, and 28 - Elsner has been summoned to appear before the committee at these dates - whether he will actually come depends on his physical fitness and on the legal authorities, writes mass circulation daily "Kurier." The doctors who are examining the 71-year-old former Bawag boss are confident that the medical examinations will not take more than two days. The French doctors that confirmed Elsner's severe heart disease in December, could get into trouble: The Austrian doctors' chamber has already announced that it is prepared to take action if it turns out that their expert opinions were intended as a favor to Elsner. Cleaner Energy Not EU Priority ¶3. The EU Commission had ambitious plans for the introduction of environmentally-friendly energy sources - nevertheless, the EU Ministers of Energy largely declined to set mandatory guidelines for the use of alternative energy sources at their meeting on Thursday. The only binding goal on which they were able to agree is the promotion of biological fuels. The main goal of the EU Commission of increasing the use of biological fuels by 20 percent met with resistance on the part of most EU states, which reject the strong involvement of Brussels in this matter and only agreed to accept the guidelines on a voluntary basis. In the end, the EU states agreed on a compromise, reports centrist daily "Die Presse": What will be mandatory is just the EU-wide increase of biological fuels to 10 percent. The burden sharing among the member states is to follow. The increase of other renewable energy sources remains a voluntary act. An extensive use of biological fuels is controversial: According to a "Financial Times" report, the EU would have to import thousands of tons of energy plants from countries like Brazil in order to actually achieve its intended goal until 2020. Environmental organizations fear that the mass production of the respective plants could lead to accelerated destruction of rain forest and to high food prices in Third World states. With regard to nuclear energy, whose importance for a "cleaner environment" is always stressed by the EU Commission, the decision continues to rest with the individual states. Austria's Minister for Economy and Labor Martin Bartenstein has confirmed Austria's negative stance with regard to nuclear energy, writes the daily. Al-Masri Injured In Fight ¶4. According to news station "CNN," the leader figure of the terror network al-Qaida in Iraq is said to have been injured during combat with Iraqi police in a fight between Falluja and Samarra. His deputy Abu Abdullah al Majamiai allegedly died in the incident. The CNN report was confirmed by the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior, which refused to give details considering al-Masri's current whereabouts. Will Ivanov Become New Strong Man In Russia? ¶5. Russian President Vladimir Putin has unexpectedly reshuffled his cabinet and thereby triggered wild speculations as to the future power distribution in the country. The current hardliner, Minister of Defense Sergej Ivanov has become the first deputy head of government and thus ranks equal with Dimitri Medvedov, who also occupies this position. Some Kremlin observers see this as an indication that the Kremlin boss, who may no longer run for office in 2008, wants to position Ivanov as new strong man in Russia. Unequal Treatment of Iran and North Korea ¶6. Centrist daily "Die Presse" has analyzed the reasonsQhy the Iranian and North Korean nuclear conflicts are being handled in such very different ways - responsible for this inequality are the different strategic interests of Washington. North Korea is seen as less of a threat, its geographical position makes a multilateral approach feasible and a collapse of the regime in Pyongyang is actually something its neighbors fear rather than desire. China, and paradoxically also the US, have an interest in maintaining the status quo with regard to North Korea, argues the daily. In contrast to Iran and its influence on the Middle East crisis region, the regime in Pyongyang doe not have the means at its disposal to undermine the strategic interests of the US in East Asia, analyzes "Die Presse." Kim Jong-Il's main concern is the survival of his regime. Iran, on the other hand, is a constant threat to the interests of the US and its allies in a region which is rich in natural resources. Also, a regime change in Iran would most probably bring to power political elites which are most likely to be friendlier towards the West than the present political leadership. In East Asia, a pro-Western regime on the Korean peninsula would not necessarily be in the Americans' best interest. As a precondition for a reunification of the two Koreas, the US would probably have to give up its military presence - otherwise China and Russia would not give their consent. However, this would drastically weaken Washington's strategic position towards both countries, writes the daily. McCaw