AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: April 04, 2007

UNCLAS VIENNA 000909 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 PAO AU SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: April 04, 2007 Eurofighter: Questionable Ties? ¶1. Greens MP Werner Kogler says he believes a "network" connecting intermediaries and Austrian ministry officials was set up surrounding the Eurofighter purchase deal, citing specifically two members of the Defense Department's evaluation commission, who entertained close personal ties with interceptor producer EADS' lobbyist Erhard Steininger, and who had also supplied the most positive assessments of the jets. Speaking to Austrian Press Agency APA, Greens MP Werner Kogler argued in connection with the Eurofighter purchase deal that there was "strong suspicion" the Finance Ministry had been informed about the costs and prices ahead of the publication of the Defense Ministry evaluation commission's decision. Four of the five sub-commission chairs voting on the purchase had opted for the Eurofighter, and in addition the two chairpersons said to have close ties with EADS had awarded the Eurofighter considerably more points that all the other sub-commission heads. For Kogler, this outcome is highly questionable, given the two men's personal connection with the Eurofighter manufacturer. Gusenbauer in Brussels ¶2. Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer from the SPOe will be the guest of the EU Commission in Brussels today. In his meeting with Commission President Jos Manuel Barroso, he is expected to also bring up controversial topics including foreign student quotas at Austrian medical universities and truck transit traffic through the country. Ahead of Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer's visit with the EU Commission, centrist daily Die Presse reports on "disharmony between Vienna and Brussels," and explains that a number of hot topics are on the agenda at the first meeting of Gusenbauer in his capacity as Austrian head of government and Commission President Barroso. In the face of disagreement on issues including student quotas, climate protection and truck transit traffic, all of which are overshadowing relations between Vienna and Brussels, Gusenbauer nonetheless wants to use his meeting with Barroso to push Austrian interests, the Presse says. The Chancellor is expected to draw on the "positive mood" of his March meeting with Barroso in Vienna, according to the daily. In an interview with mass-circulation tabloid Oesterrreich, Gusenbauer explained he would "present the Austrian action plan on climate protection to the Commission. I suspect the package has not been recognized in its entirety." He wants to "raise awareness" of the Austrian strategy and is "confident Brussels will listen." Regarding the student quotas, there are "many positive signals from Brussels. Commission President Barroso has already assured me there will be no solutions that work against Austria." Research Deal Signed In Seoul ¶3. Austrian President Heinz Fischer continued his visit to South Korea on Tuesday with a stop at the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. Meanwhile, Science Minister Johannes Hahn and his Korean counterpart Kum Woo-sik signed a "Joint Declaration on Cooperation in Science and Research." In addition, Austrian State Secretary for Research, Christa Kranzl and Woo-sik agreed to SIPDIS intensify cooperation on research related to outer space and the International Space Station. All Austrian media report on President Heinz Fischer's visit to South Korea, with semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung writing that Fischer visited the border region with North Korea. He expressed his concern over the "rigidity of the border, this surgical rift though what is in effect one country with centuries of traditions." South Korea had "no choice but to continue the path of de-escalation and rapprochement begun by President Kim Dae Yung in the late 1970s, Fischer suggested. Likewise, mass-circulation tabloid Kronen Zeitung and centrist daily Die Presse write about the President's visit to "the most deadly border in the world." The Presse quotes Ambassador Chun Yung Woo, South Korea's chief negotiator at the six party talks, as being optimistic the situation with North Korea will improve. Pyongyang knows that without a solution of the nuclear row, there will be no return for it into the world community, he says and adds that "what the North considers as its security -- namely nuclear weapons - is in reality a burden, and Pyongyang will have to come to terms with that." However, it will be important to offer the North security in the form of a peace treaty eventually, the Ambassador believes. Palestinian Minister in Vienna ¶4. Ahead of a two day visit to Austria, new Palestinian Foreign Minister Ziad Abu Amr has said he believes that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's positive reaction to the Middle East peace plan proposed by the Arab League might just be a maneuver. Abu Amr emphasized that the new Arab initiative is the best basis for a fair, quick and comprehensive resolution to the conflict. The Palestinian Foreign Minister was in Paris on Tuesday before arriving in the Austrian capital. Ahead of the Palestinian Foreign Minister's visit to Vienna, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung quoted Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, who had invited her Palestinian counterpart, as saying Ziad Abu Amr enjoys confidence that extends beyond party lines and has played an important role in the formation of the unity government. Plassnik met with Abu Amr and Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti in Gaza and Ramallah during her last visit to the Middle East in December 2006. Both Palestinian ministers were elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council as independent candidates, the daily notes. In an analysis, mass-circulation daily Kurier writes that, in Vienna, Abu Amr is likely to lobby for support for his government, which has been eyed with skepticism by some countries -- after all, he represents a coalition government, one half of which - Hamas - is still registered as a terrorist organization with the EU. It is exactly this division between "good and bad" that Abu Amr intend to overcome with his visits to Paris and Vienna. "How can you pretend to support a unity government if you are pushing for its division by maintaining contacts with some government members and refusing to meet with others," the Kurier quotes the Palestinian Minister. Abu Amr, an independent candidate who enjoys the confidence of both Hamas and Fatah, is facing the difficult task of getting Hamas to adopt the international "rules of the game," while convincing the international community of his success with this task, the Kurier says, adding that this is probably the only way to end the international boycott (of Hamas). London Offers Tehran Direct Talks ¶5. Britain has proposed direct bilateral talks with Iran to try to resolve the standoff over Tehran's seizure of 15 British sailors last month. A statement from Prime Minister Tony Blair's office said he believes both countries want an early resolution of the crisis. British officials also spoke with Iran's chief negotiator Ali Larijani yesterday, saying they are waiting for a response to their proposal. A quick release of the 15 Navy personnel remains doubtful, however, according to Austrian media. Like all Austrian media commenting on the crisis over Tehran's arrest of the 15 British sailors, independent provincial daily Salzburger Nachrichten points out that US President Bush has ruled out an exchange of five Iranians captured in Iraq with the British Navy personnel. There would be no return service for the hostages, he said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, ORF online news suggests that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his supporters are profiting in several ways from the crisis: Ahmadinejad can turn the issue into a question of national pride and thus get an opportunity to criticize those Iranian forces willing to compromise for their allegedly lenient stance towards the West. In addition, the standoff is a welcome diversion from the results of Ahmadinejad's controversial economic politics, for which he has come increasingly under fire in recent times. Finally, Great Britain, as a former colonial power, is a ready target for high-flying emotions, says ORF online news. Pelosi in Syria ¶6. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, is in Damascus for talks with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. She is the highest-ranking US politician to visit Syria in recent years. Pelosi has emphasized that dialogue with Damascus is vital to resolving the Iraq and Lebanon crises. The Bush administration, however, has severely criticized her visit as undermining US policy. ORF radio early morning news Morgenjournal quotes a Syrian-Lebanese-born political scientist in the US as stressing in connection with Nancy Pelosi's visit to Damascus that in Iraq, "if there is to be any kind of resolution that brings any sort of stability or balance of power to the region, the Syrian regime and its troops would have to part of that coalition." ORF online news reports that US President George Bush, however, has accused Pelosi of hurting US policy and undermining Washington's efforts to isolate Syria. Ukraine Crisis Continues ¶7. Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko has refused to withdraw his order to dissolve Parliament in talks with Prime Minister Victor Yanukovich, who described the order as a "fatal error." He will hold meetings today with his government ministers and Western ambassadors. Yushchenko, meanwhile, defended his decision, stressing the power struggle in the country had required a quick and strong response. Reporting on current developments in Ukraine, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung publishes an analysis of a "crisis with uncertain outcome," and points out the potential scenarios in the Ukrainian power struggle. It is uncertain that early elections would turn out in Yushchenko's favor, although the President has been pushing for that option. An annulment of the presidential decree dissolving Parliament or the dismissal by Parliament of President Yushchenko are conceivable options as well, according to the Wiener Zeitung. Commentator for liberal daily Der Standard Eduard Steiner comments that it was "clear the post-revolutionary era in the Ukraine would be more difficult than the revolution itself. Many people bear responsibility for the wasted time. The greatest share falls to the revolutionaries themselves, who devoured each other in internal rivalries and their greed for power. Another problem was the sloppy regulations on the authority of individual institutions and probably also the EU, which did not provide a context for a new beginning. The big players in Ukrainian politics are still relatively young. However, the hope that a more pragmatic and future-oriented policy will take the place of the current infighting between the traditional rivals already rests with a new generation of politicians." Meanwhile, foreign affairs editor for centrist daily Die Presse Christian Ultsch suggests that Ukraine has "an enormous problem with its elites. As long as the old divided guard continues to perform the old tragicomedy the country will not make any headway. The hero of the 'Orange Revolution,' President Victor Yushchenko, who was cheered by the West, proved a disappointment. (...) What was intended as a liberating strike could now prove detrimental to Yushchenko. It would be the last act in the drama of self-inflicted damage that the Orange revolutionaries did to themselves. Instead of tightening their ranks, the hesitant Yushchenko and the brazen Julia Timochenko quarreled until they had opened a window of opportunity for Yanukovich to return to power. The Ukraine needs a new generation of politicians." McCaw