AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: April 05, 2007

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SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: April 05, 2007

OeVP Disagrees on Same-Sex Partnerships


1. An improvement of the legal rights of people living in same-sex
partnerships in Austria could happen soon - provided the OeVP
settles its intra-party disputes over the issue. OeVP secretary
general Hannes Missethon suggested on ORF television yesterday that
same-sex partnerships could in the future be registered with a
notary public, but not at the registrar's office, as called for by
the SPOe and the Greens. Nonetheless, the move would abolish
discrimination, for example with regard to estate and inheritance
rights, Missethon said. He was harshly criticized for his statements
by other high-ranking OeVP members, according to Austrian media.
Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung notes that same-sex partnerships
has been a particularly hot topic with the Conservatives. Following
Missethon's announcement on ORF television yesterday that the OeVP
was planning to offer Austrians the option of having both homosexual
and heterosexual partnerships registered with a notary public, and
the ensuing rebuke by party heavyweights, the OeVP Secretary General
backpedaled, saying he had merely wanted to present the interim
results of a perspectives group within the OeVP. Missethon's move
came after Workers and Employees Union Secretary General Werner Amon
harshly criticized his push towards equal rights for same-sex
partnerships as "highly surprising." According to Amon, families
needed to continue receiving highest priority, the Wiener Zeitung
writes.


Gusenbauer Visits Brussels


2. Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer paid his first official visit to
Brussels Wednesday, meeting with the new Austrian Ambassador to the
EU, Hans-Dietmar Schweisgut, and with EU Commission President Jose
Manual Barroso, with whom he discussed key issues from climate
control to transit policy. He also called for a strengthening of the
European social model. The Chancellor was met with praise for
Austria's climate protection efforts and understanding for Austria's
concerns regarding the university access of foreign students, but
failed to get any actual EU promises regarding these matters,
Austrian media say.
Like all Austrian media, mass-circulation daily Kurier reports on
Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer's visit to Brussels. Following his
meeting with Commission President Jos Manuel Barroso it was
announced that EU Commission will take another close look at the
information Austria has provided regarding its efforts to cut carbon
dioxide emissions. On the issue of student quotas, Barroso was
optimistic that a solution could be found which is in the interest
of both sides. Gusenbauer meanwhile defended his stance that
criticism of the Commission was sometimes necessary. Speaking at the
Austrian Embassy in Brussels, he stressed that he was pushing for a
"relaxed relationship," and that an exclusively "velvet glove
approach" with the Commission would do no good. Nonetheless, the
Kurier analyzes the Chancellor's Brussels trip stating that the
Commission "showed understanding for Austria's university concerns
and climate protection efforts, but is unlikely to depart from its
principles."


EU Opens Markets to Developing Regions


3. The European Union Wednesday proposed to remove all remaining
quota and tariff limitations on access to the EU market for all
African, Caribbean and Pacific regions as part of the Economic
Partnership Agreement negotiations, an Austrian daily says.
Reporting on the EU's Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations,
semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung says the offer covers all types
of products, including agricultural goods like beef, dairy products
and cereals, as well as all fruit and vegetables. It will apply
immediately following the signing of an agreement including a
phase-in period for rice and sugar. The only exception will be South
Africa, where a number of globally competitive products will
continue to pay import duties. The offer will give all African,
Caribbean and Pacific countries the same full access to EU markets
that all least developed countries have under the EU's "everything
but arms" duty and quota-free market access system. It will apply in
full from day one - planned for January 1, 2008 - with the exception
of the rice and sugar transition period. The daily notes this will
be compatibile with EU market reforms and ensure stability to
protect the interests of both the EU and ACP producers who supply
those markets. Economic partnership agreements are the trade and
development agreements the EU is currently negotiating in parallel
with 6 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions. These include
the Caribbean; West Africa; East and Southern Africa; Central
Africa; Southern Africa and the Pacific. The economic partnership
agreements aim at integrating the ACP into the world trading economy
and increasing the quantity and diversity of their trade. Under
current arrangements, the 40 ACP least developed countries (LDCs)
already have duty- and quota-free access to the EU, while 37
non-LDCs have special tariff preferences and one country, South
Africa, has a bilateral free trade agreement. A core objective of
the EPAs is to bring each region under a single trade regime to
encourage regional integration, the growth of markets and the
creation of regional supply chains.


Abu Amr in Vienna


4. Palestinian Foreign Minister Ziad Abu Amr, after talks in Vienna
with his Austrian counterpart Ursula Plassnik, said he doesn't
believe Israel is serious about peace plan talks with the
Palestinians. He said Israel needed to open the checkpoints and
barriers that keep the citizens of around 2,000 Palestinian villages
living in difficult circumstances. He also demanded Israel release
about 10,000 Palestinians that it has imprisoned and suggested that
then Israeli prisoners will be released, including Israeli soldier
Gilad Shalit, kidnapped last summer.
In an interview with semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung, Palestinian
Foreign Minister Ziad Abu Amr outlines what he considers the next
steps in the peace process: "We've done what we were asked to do:
We've agreed on a moderate government program, and now, of course,
we expect a change in the international community and EU's stance
towards the Palestinians. It is time for things to get back to
normal." Regarding Israel, Abu Amr emphasized that the "Palestinian
Authority has recognized Israel, the PLO has recognized Israel. The
government is only a small part of the Palestinian political system.
We've drawn up a national unity platform and have met requirements.
Why does everyone focus exclusively on the Palestinian side? There
are parties in Israel that have neither recognized the Palestinian
authority nor the Palestinian state." Peace, he believes, has been
"outlined quite clearly in the Arab League initiative. There has to
be a normalization of our relations (with other countries),and a
recognition of the state (of Israel) in return for Israel's
withdrawal behind the borders of 1967."

Centrist daily Die Presse also publishes an interview with the
Foreign Minister, quoting him as saying he has "no problem with
Israel's right to exit, but we're not talking about personal views
here. I represent a government that has committed itself to the
exiting agreements of the Palestinian authority. This includes the
letter in which the PLO recognized Israel. Without this recognition,
the Palestinian authority could not have been founded. That is why
the EU needs to lift its embargo against the Palestinian government,
resume its direct financial aid payments, and give up its ban on
contacts with Hamas members."


15 British Sailors Return Home


5. The 15 British Navy crew held captive by Iran for almost two
weeks is on its way home. In a surprise move that Austrian media
have described as a "huge PR stunt," Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad released the 15 yesterday in what he said was a "gift"
to the British people. British Prime Minister Tony Blair has
expressed his relief, and declared no deals had been made with Iran
to secure the release of the soldiers. He did not thank or address
the Iranian President, but stressed the UK bore the Iranian people
"no ill will."
All Austrian media give prominent coverage to the release of the 15
British Navy personnel from Iranian custody. Independent provincial
daily Salzburger Nachrichten comments on the "big show over
prisoners, "and also quotes US President Bush as welcoming the
developments. Centrist daily Die Presse in a front-page article
notes that the change in the tug-of-war over the sailors was likely
brought about by direct contact between Iran's chief negotiator Ali
Larijani and Tony Blair's office. Allegedly, London agreed in a
letter to respect the Iraqi-Iranian naval borders in the future, the
Presse says. Iran's President Ahmadinejad has meanwhile also offered
to resume diplomatic relations with the United States, provided "Mr.
Bush and his administration change their behavior." The State
Department replied, however, that it is Iran that needs to change,
the daily notes. Mass-circulation daily Kurier like the majority of
Austrian media emphasized the sensation caused by the Iranian
decision, describing it s as "bombshell," and a "surprise PR coup"
launched by the Iranian President, and ORF online news points out
that Ahmadinejad clearly enjoyed the humiliation his surprise move
must have caused London.
And in liberal daily Der Standard, foreign affairs writer Martin
Stricker comments on the "grande finale in Tehran," saying that both
sides have finally "succeeded in attaining their goals: The
liberation of the British citizens without loss of face by the
parties concerned. British Prime Minister Tony Blair did not have to
apologize for his alleged violation of borders, nor did the regime
in Teheran have to submit to ;pudmouthed threats. The risk of
escalation seemed too great for either. For the rest of the world,
this is very reassuring. Likewise encouraging is the prospect of old
fronts buckling elsewhere in the region, and the possibility that
the US could play a constructive role in this development - in the
person of the Democratic Speaker of the House. Perhaps there will be
change."




Pelosi in Syria


6. US Speaker of the House of Representatives Democrat Nancy Pelosi,
after talks in Damascus, has said Syria is ready to resume peace
talks with Israel. She explained she had delivered a similar message
from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Syria's President Bashar
Al-Assad. US President Bush has accused Pelosi of damaging his
administration's Middle East efforts and of sending "mixed messages"
to Syria. An Austrian daily describes Pelosi's trip to the region as
a "slap in the face" for President Bush.
Liberal daily Der Standard writes that Nancy Pelosi's visit to Syria
has been harshly criticized by the White House. Such visits and
photo-ops were "counterproductive," and would merely affirm Assad's
administrations in their belief that they were part of the
established international community, President Bush argued. The
daily's foreign affairs writer Christoph Winder argues that Pelosi's
"signal to the American public is clear: The Democrats have lost
patience with George W. Bush and as much as they can, they will not
hesitate to take charge of the foreign policy agenda while he is
still in office. Pelosi's conduct reflects the fundamentally changed
distribution of power in US domestic policy. Bush and his party are
in the political doldrums. More and more leading Republicans are
distancing themselves from their President with growing speed."
Independent provincial daily Salzburger Nachrichten suggests that
President Bush was apparently "passed over" in Pelosi's decision to
visit Syria. The images of her self-assured appearances and her
meeting with Syrian President Assad must have been quite painful for
the US President, the daily speculates, and adds that the trip and
Pelosi's determination casts a critical light on President Bush's
Mideast policy, which some US diplomats have admitted has reached a
deadlock. The Democrat's visit with Assad also emphasized the US
President's political solitude, the Salzburger Nachrichten believes,
and quotes conservative columnist Bob Novak as commenting that "Bush
is as isolated as Nixon was at the height of Watergate." The daily
adds that Pelosi's trip has allegedly been welcomed by a number of
high-ranking State Department and Pentagon officials, and it comes
at a time when Bush's political allies in the Middle East have
signaled that their increasing distance from the US President.


Interview with David Frum


7. In an interview with a leading Austrian daily, former Bush aide
and presidential speech writer David Frum, the "man who co-authored
the famous 'axis-of-evil' speech," as the daily puts it, discusses
the United States' miscalculations and problems in Iraq, the Iran
crisis and the legacy of US President Bush.
Liberal daily Der Standard on April 4 published an interview with
David Frum, former speech writer for President Bush. He emphasized
that from his point of view, "the US was facing two major problems
in Iraq: Because the President - and all of us - had been wrong
about the weapons of mass destruction, we arrived in Iraq with very
little credibility. The President honestly considered Iraq an
immediate threat. He did not lie. Had he wanted to do so, he could
have come up with at least 20 better lies than that one." If things
in Iraq had gone better, "even without the WMD there would have been
no questions. If the weapons had been there and the situation had
turned out to be as difficult as it is, it would have been OK too."
One problem the US encountered in Iraq, according to Frum, was that
"all US plans were tailored towards taking over a functioning Iraqi
state. We failed to see that Saddam Hussein's dictatorship had
cannibalized itself in its final decade." Nevertheless, he still
believes it is "possible to create a functioning Iraqi state, which
is capable of controlling its territory, fights terrorism and serves
as an example of smoothly running institutions. Indeed, we do have
those already: Iraq has the only free media in the Arab world, and
it has an elected government. Many security problems remain, but
these things are highly unusual in the Arab world."


US Supreme Court Enforces Climate Protection


8. ... reads the front-page headline of an Austrian daily on April

4. The paper reports on the Supreme Court ruling that the Bush
administration was wrong to say it did not have the power to
regulate exhaust gases from new cars and trucks. According to the
Court, the Environmental Protection Agency offered "no reasoned
explanation" for refusing to regulate carbon dioxide and other
harmful gas emissions from cars.
In a front-page report April 4, independent provincial daily
Salzburger Nachrichten says the Bush administration's environment
and climate policy has received a "harsh rebuke" from the US Supreme
Court. The Court criticized the administration's passive stance on
climate protection, and demanded that the Environmental Protection
Agency EPA issue binding emission limits for exhaust gases from new
cars. Greenhouse gases must be rated as pollutants, and the "damage
wrought by climate change is serious and generally known," the daily
quotes from the ruling. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
sees the Supreme Court decision as affirmation of his policy, the
Salzburger Nachrichten says. "We hope the EPA will come to the same
conclusion have in California. Greenhouse gases from motor vehicles
must be reduced," Schwarzenegger underscored.
The daily's foreign affairs writer Thomas Spang commented that the
Supreme Court decision is "good news. Now that the EPA has been
forced by law to cooperate, chances for excellent climate protection
initiatives in (states like California) are not bad. EPA can no
longer use threadbare arguments to stall on implementing severe
measures against global warming. (...) What the decision means for
the rest of the country remains to be seen. The Bush administration
will certainly not be over-eager to implement the new provisions. It
is now for Congress to increase the pressure on the government."
Likewise, commentator for the daily Gerhard Schwischei argued that
there is "cause for optimism now that the Supreme Court of the
United States has taken a courageous step in making clear to the
Bush administration that the refusal of the US environmental agency
to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide
(CO2) is no longer permissible and climate change is a real danger."

McCaw