AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: March 27, 2007

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SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: March 27, 2007


Budget Plans Favor OeVP


1. Despite demonstrations of unity, cooperation between the
coalition partners SPOe and OeVP has been marked by quarrels and
disagreement. It is therefore hardly surprising that benchmark
information on Finance Minister Wilhelm Molterer's address in
Parliament to present the double budget for 2007/2008 has been
leaked a few days ahead of the speech, Austrian media note. In
addition, the budget data has revealed that the ministers of junior
coalition partner OeVP will have twice as much money at their
disposal as their SPOe colleagues.
According to ORF online news, SPOe ministers will be able to spend
21,948 billion Euros this year, while those from the OeVP will have
46,942 billion at their disposal. This does not surprise Austrian
economics expert Bernhard Felderer, who explains that the Finance
Ministry, which is in OeVP hands, is naturally in charge of the bulk
of the money, given that major expenses including pensions for civil
servants and federal debt management are paid out of its budget.


Key Session for Eurofighter Committee


2. Tuesday's session of the investigative committee looking into the
Austrian Eurofighter purchase is expected to be particularly
significant: Former Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser and former
Defense Minister and current Interior Minister Guenther Platter are
among those asked to testify before the committee. The two
politicians will be questioned on details of the Eurofighter
purchase negotiations as well as the contents of the contract.
ORF online news writes that the head of the Eurofighter
investigative committee, Greens MP Peter Pilz, plans to ask former
Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser and former Defense Minister
Guenther Platter tough questions on the jets' purchase process.
Opponents of the deal have accused the two of having negotiated to
Austria's disadvantage. Minister Platter is also expected to be
questioned about the still outstanding software licenses from the
US, which are required for the planes, ORF online news notes.
Liberal daily Der Standard meanwhile reports that two US military
personnel will be stationed at the Zeltweg barracks in Austria when
the Eurofighters arrive in the country. The two US soldiers will be
in charge of monitoring the navigation software's security.


Leitl Welcomes Infrastructure Spending


3. The President of the Austrian Chamber of Economics, Christoph
Leitl, has said he is satisfied with the government's ambitious
investment program in infrastructure. Speaking shortly after the
SPOe-OeVP coalition announced spending of 11 billion Euros on road
and railway projects over the next four years, Leitl stressed that
clear priorities had been set for the most important tasks. It
remains unclear, however, how the government's infrastructure
program will be financed, one Austrian daily notes.
Like all Austrian media, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung reports
on the coalition government's decision to invest 11 billion Euros in
road and rail links until 2010. The major projects include the
so-called Brenner-Basis tunnel, the Semmering tunnel and a central
railway station for Vienna. Finance Minister Wilhelm Molterer from
the OeVP said it was the biggest infrastructure investment any
Austrian government had ever undertaken in a single term of office.
Independent provincial daily Salzburger Nachrichten comments that
the "costs for tunnels are exploding, but many other projects have
been put on the back burner." And centrist daily Die Presse argues
that "future generations will have to pay for the government's
ambitious plans for Austria's infrastructure."


Ambassador Visits Linz


4. US Ambassador to Austria Susan McCaw visited the Upper Austrian
capital Linz on March 21. At the Austrian bank Oberbank she spoke
about the opportunities and risks of globalization and the
transatlantic relationship.
Upper Austrian regional daily Neues Volksblatt in a report on March
23 calls US Ambassador to Austria Susan McCaw the "Ambassador of
economic upswing." McCaw was welcomed in the Upper Austrian capital
Linz on March 21 by the director general of the Austrian bank
Oberbank Franz Gasselsberger. In her PAS-facilitated speech on
globalization and the transatlantic relations, the Ambassador -
whose professional background is investment banking - praised
Austria as "having the potential to permanently take its place among
Europe's leading business locations." She has been particularly
impressed by Upper Austria's economic strength, the daily says, and
adds that Upper Austrian Governor Josef Puehringer returned McCaw's
compliment, saying that it was the "US that recently had led Europe
back on the path of economic growth." In a similar vein, Oberbank
director general Gasselsberger underscored that in his view, the
United States remains the "most important engine of the current
positive economic development." Mass-circulation tabloid Kronen
Zeitung for Upper Austria also reports on the Ambassador's visit,
and notes that her talk upon invitation of bank director
Gasselsberger was moderated by "ORF legend" Klaus Emmerich. Among
the prominent guests at the event was also Joachim Haindl-Grutsch,
the managing director of Upper Austria's industrialists
association.


Iran Questioning British Sailors


5. Iran says it is questioning the 15 captured British sailors and
marines to determine if their alleged entry into Iranian territorial
waters was intentional or unintentional and will then decide what to
do with them. Iran and Britain continue to disagree over the matter.
Observers say Tehran has softened its stance on the captured sailors
and may be opening the way for a negotiated outcome.
Mass-circulation daily Kurier suggest the crisis over the British
soldiers held captive in Iran could be a politically motivated
arrest. Tehran could use the sailors as leverage, the daily says and
explains: Arab media reported the allegedly spontaneous arrest had
been ordered on March 18 by the Iranian Defense Council. The British
military personnel could be released in exchange for five members of
a special unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, captured by US troops
in Iraq in January, and for a top agent who disappeared in Turkey.
Tehran is concerned the men could reveal details of Iranian covert
operations, the Kurier says, and comments that it "would not be the
first time that soldiers have been offered up as pawns in political
machinations or as leverage to escalate crises." Iran, however,
denies the allegations.
Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana has held talks with
Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani. It is believed he
renewed an offer from the five permanent UN Security Council members
and Germany to negotiate over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. EU sources
say there is "no reason for panic" over the status of Iran's nuclear
program, which was less advanced than initially believed, according
to an EU diplomat, says liberal daily Der Standard.
Kilner