AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: April 04, 2007

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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

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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