AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: March 01, 2007

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SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: March 01, 2007


Bures, Hahn to Be Sworn In


1. Minister for Women's Issues Doris Bures of the SPOe and Science
Minister Johannes Hahn of the OeVP are the last two members of the
coalition cabinet to be officially sworn in by President Heinz
Fischer today. The two have been ministers without portfolio since
inauguration of the SPOe-OeVP government in January, as their
ministries did not exist under the former administration and the law
providing for them had to be passed first, ORF online news writes.


Darabos Criticizes Budget


2. Defense Minister Norbert Darabos (SPOe) has refused to approve
the 2007 and 2008 draft budget submitted by Finance Minister Wilhelm
Molterer. The proposal leaves him "short by about 50 to 60 million
Euros," Darabos told an Austrian daily. He would not run the risk of
"a single Austrian soldier being brought home in a casket, simply
because I don't have the armored vehicles for our missions abroad
that meet today's requirements," Darabos added. Liberal daily Der
Standard reports that while all other cabinet ministers have already
given their approval of the 68-billion-Euro Austrian double budget
for 2007/2008, Defense Minister Norbert Darabos vetoed the draft;
thus blocking final agreement. Darabos is demanding additional funds
to finance reform of Austria's armed forces.


New Name for Foreign Ministry


3. As of March 1, the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs will be
using its new name: "Federal Ministry for European and International
Affairs." The Ministry's new homepage can be accessed at:
www.bmeia.at and e-mail addresses from now on terminate in
@bmeia.at. The old homepage and former e-mail addresses will be kept
operational for the time being, however, according to
mass-circulation daily Kurier.


Berger Wants to Empty Prisons


4. Austrian Minister for Justice Maria Berger (SPOe) wants to reduce
the number of prisoners held in Austria by at least ten percent in
the next few years. Among the measures she proposes is imposing more
fines or house arrest rather than prison terms.
In an interview with centrist daily Die Presse, Minister for Justice
Maria Berger outlines her plans for the Austrian judiciary. A key
element of her policy will be to bring back the juvenile detention
center and court, abolished by the OeVP-FPOe-BZOe government. Such
an institution is "necessary' for juvenile delinquents, Berger says,
adding that she has always supported separate courts and prisons for
juvenile offenders.


EU Clears Bawag Sale


5. EU competition authorities in Brussels have cleared the sale of
Austrian union-owned bank Bawag to the US company Cerberus for 3.2
billion Euros, the largest cash sale in Austrian banking history.
Bawag got into trouble for failed currency speculation. About 2.6
billion Euros from the sale will go to settle union federation
debts, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung reports.
Meanwhile, Helmut Elsner, the former head of Bawag, who faces trial
on fraud and false accounting charges, remains in detention awaiting
trial following heart surgery.


McCain Launches White House Bid


6. US Senator John McCain has officially announced he'll seek his
Republican Party's nomination for next year's presidential election.
He made the announcement on a late-night talk show on US television.
His main rival for the nomination is former New York mayor Rudi
Giuliani, who has widened his lead in recent weeks as the favorite
candidate among Republicans. ORF online news, reporting on Senator
John McCain's announcement he will run for nomination, says the
Vietnam War veteran has always emphasized his foreign policy and
military competence. Liberal daily Der Standard online writes that
McCain's candidature had been widely expected. McCain has in the
past few years followed his own political course, the daily says,
citing as an example the Senator's push for outlawing torture.
Reporting on a number of other presidential hopefuls, semi-official
daily Wiener Zeitung suggests that Senator Barack Obama is running
the risk of being caught in a dilemma in his race for the White
House: While he strikes a popular chord with his
fight-the-political-establishment approach, many observers are
irritated by his stance on two key elements of US policy - race and
religion. He is hiding his Muslim origins, and is not doing enough
to promote the right of African Americans, they argue, according to
the Wiener Zeitung.


Prodi Survives Senate Vote


7. Italian Prime Minster Romano Prodi narrowly survived a motion of
confidence in the Senate, allowing him to continue in office. The
vote came a week after Prodi lost a Senate vote on his foreign
policy, prompting Italy's center-left government to stand down.
Given his narrow victory, Austrian media wonder how long Prodi's
government will last.


US Getting Ready To Stay In Iraq


8. According to US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the United States
will have to keep a military presence in Iraq for years to come,
liberal daily Der Standard reports. Gates told the US Senate he
believes US soldiers will have to stay in the country for an
"extended period of time." The future US contingent in Iraq would be
much smaller than it is today.


US Willing To Talk With Iran, Syria


9. All major Austrian media continue to report on what they describe
as an "unexpected about face" in US Middle East policy, following
the surprise announcement by Secretary of State Rice earlier this
week that the United States is prepared to participate in a security
conference in Iraq, which Iranian and Syrian representatives are
also expected to attend.
Foreign affairs writer for independent provincial daily Salzburger
Nachrichten Thomas Spang comments: "Is US President George W. Bush
finally prepared to implement the recommendations of the Iraq study
group and just unable to admit it? The diplomatic turnaround with
regard to Iran and Syria is cause for hope. (...) In view of the
chaotic situation in Iraq and the resistance of high-ranking US
generals, President Bush can only profit from talks with Iran and
Syria. Even if they definitely refuse cooperation in stabilizing
Iraq that would at least prove that failure in this regard is not
exclusively attributable to the White House's inability to make
progress. There is also hope that Bush will implement a second
element of the Baker report: To start the withdrawal of the US
troops this year . (...) Whether there is a concept behind the
military and diplomatic parallel efforts on the part of the White
House that relates to the experts' recommendations, however, remains
speculation. Congress has to continue to increase its pressure to
achieve a lasting change of strategy in Iraq."

Meanwhile in liberal daily Der Standard, foreign affairs editor
Gudrun Harrer says that it is a "veritable change of policy by the
US when, all of a sudden and without fanfare, it announces its
intention to speak with Iran and Syria about Iraq - albeit not on
the bilateral level, but at least in high-level talks. However, one
should not get carried away: Washington has not become active on
its own accord in an attempt to implement the recommendations of the
Baker-Hamilton commission; rather, it follows an Iraqi request and a
purely Iraqi initiative. (...) Past attempts by Teheran and
Washington to engage in talks have been numerous - almost for the
entire last year, both parties have been blaming each other for not
being ready to talk. And they were both right. Of course, the
primary obstacle was the Iranian request to talk about more than
just Iraq. That is the reason why a preparatory meeting is so
important and failure before April is still possible. Washington
seems to have realized that Iraq can only be stabilized by firmly
anchoring the country in the region. However, Teheran had better not
expect concessions with regard to other issues."


"US Is Ultimate Decision Authority'


10. In an interview with an Austrian daily, Polish military expert
Maria Wagrowska said the decision in favor of stationing US missile
defense systems in Poland is a done deal.
In an interview with liberal daily Der Standard, Polish military
expert Maria Wagrowska stressed why Poland is in favor of having a
US missile defense system on its territory: "Since 1990, Poland's
policy has been pro-US. It is therefore only natural for Poland to
play its part in the US missile defense system. Furthermore, the
Polish government is convinced that a missile defense shield will
make the country more secure, because any attack on Poland would
virtually amount to declaring war on the US. The US would not only
defend its anti-missile system stationed in Poland, but the entire
Polish territory. Secondly, the Polish government is hoping to get
Patriot missiles (...) from the US in exchange for its agreement to
have the US defense system stationed here, and thus close the gap in
our air raid defenses."
McCaw