AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: April 06, 2007

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SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: April 06, 2007


Kdolsky Calls for Limits on Childcare Benefits


1. Andrea Kdolsky, Austria's Minister for Health and Family Issues
from the People's Party has called for adherence to the limit of
extra income that a person receiving childcare benefit payments
while on maternity leave can make. She said the payments must be
returned if a person goes over the limit of extra income. The limit
is now at 14,600 Euros per year. Kdolsky has announced random probes
among recipients of childcare benefits during the past year to check
whether they were above the legal income limit.
Following Austria's Family Minister Andrea Kdolsky's announcement of
random probes among recipients of childcare benefits in connection
with the legal income limits for persons having received such
payments, Herbert Haupt, former Social Affairs Minister from the
Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZOe),emphasized he did not
want the financial assistance returned. He argued there was no way
to control how much parents had earned, semi-official daily Wiener
Zeitung says, adding that Heidrun Silhavy of the SPOe was also
skeptical that Kdolsky's plan would work. According to Kdolsky, said
twenty percent of those receiving assistance had been caught earning
extra money when they were investigated. She said there could be
controls for people who received aid between 2003 and 2006. It would
cost around 300 million Euros additionally per year if there were no
controls, she said. The Minister also proposed a new limit of 16,200
Euros annually with more flexibility all around, and urged her new
model be given a chance to work. As of now, 60 percent of parents
receiving aid prefer the old model of 30 plus 6 months (with 436
Euros per monh),while 40 percent favor the new system of 15 pls 3
months (800 Euros per month).


OeVP Divided over Partnership Issue


2. The Conservatives reain divided over legal recognition of
same-sex prtnerships after annes Missethon, the party's genral
secretary, suggested a notarized contract fo both homosexual as

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well as heterosexual partnersips. In the face of harsh criticism
from within he party, Missethon said homosexuality is a realit in
society and laws must be made realistic. Family Minister Andrea
Kdolsky, who is also with the VVP, said on Thursday she stood behind
Missethon and called for an end to further discrimination against
homosexuals.
All Austrian media report on the ongoing discussions on ways to
legally support same-sex partnerships, an issue which has divided
the People's Party. Hannes Missethon suggested notarized contracts
and called for an end to discrimination against same-sex partners in
housing and inheritance matters, but proposing, that laws against
the adoption of children by homosexuals would remain. His move was
met with harsh criticism by Werner Amon, head of the party's
employees association OeAAB, who said the security of the family
must remain in the foreground. Mass-circulation daily Kurier notes
the current squabble in the OeVP had come shortly ahead of a party
meeting and reveals more clearly than ever before the failures and
shortfalls the Conservatives had incurred during their term as
leading government coalition party. Cetnrist daily die Presse
meanwhile notes that the opposition parties had "reacted with glee
to the OeVP dispute: SPOe [sic! - the Presse ranks the OeVP's
coalition partner among the opposition here] party manager Josef
Kalina detects 'chaos' within the OeVP, the BZOe has labeled the
Conservatives the 'quarrel party' while the Greens have said the
OeVP is simply going too far in some of its views." And FPOe boss
Heinz Christian Strache commented that the OeVP "has disqualified
itself as a family-oriented party with its proposals."


Ukrainian Premier wants Gusenbauer to Mediate


3. In Ukraine, the power struggle between President Viktor
Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich has deepened. Both
politicians are refusing to back down over a new election and are
threatening each other with prosecution. The Prime Minister said at
a press conference yesterday that he had asked Austria to help
mediate the crisis after a phone call to Chancellor Alfred
Gusenbauer. There has been no formal response form Gusenbauer's
office yet.
Like all major Austrian media, liberal daily Der Standard reports
that Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich told journalists
yesterday that he had asked Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer to
mediate in his crippling political dispute with President Viktor
Yushchenko. The daily quotes Yanukowich as explaining that he had
"decided to call foreign mediators and particularly the Austrian
Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer - Austria is a neutral country - as
well as other competent European legal experts." The Standard also
notes that the Austrian Chancellery has so far declined to comment
on this highly critical issue. Centrist daily Die Presse writes that
Gusenbauer, having been catapulted rather unexpectedly into the
midst of the Ukrainian crisis, could end up caught between the two
fronts, as President Yushchenko and his supporters do not appear to
be favoring mediation. The daily quotes Gerhard Mangott of the
Austrian Institute for International Politics in Vienna, who
expressed his "surprise" at Yanukovich's move, stressing that the
Ukrainian Premier does "not have specific ties with Austria." He
does not believe Austria is going to "expose itself" in the matter:
"It would be wrong. Austria cannot afford to embark on such
bilateral missions; this is something that should be channeled
through the German EU Presidency."



UN To Publish Climate Report


4. The second part of the United Nations' report on climate change
is expected to be published in Brussels today, dealing with the
likely consequences of global warming and the impact of climate
change on human societies. Austrian media note that UN experts and
scientists have reacted angrily to the insistence of government
representatives, particularly from the US and China, to water down
ahead of the report's presentation the wording of some key clauses,
including prognoses on expected water shortages.
Although a UN panel is due to publish a key report on the impact of
global warming later today, ORF online news reports that
presentation of the full text has been postponed at the last minute
in the face of pressure from some major countries. Critical clauses
have been scrapped from the text, including a paragraph on climate
change in the United States, which was "swept under the carpet"
because of US pressure, ORF online news writes. Scientists and
government officials from more than 100 nations held intense
all-night talks in Brussels on a text expected to give the bleakest
UN warning yet on the effects of climate change. According to an
expert quoted on ORF radio early morning news Morgenjournal, cuts of
more than 60 percent in carbon emissions will be essential by the
middle of the century. He stressed that "the key thing is to
understand what is preventable, and beyond that to be wholly and
strategically, as well as internationally and institutionally,
focused on avoiding on what can still be avoided." Developments are
"potentially going to overwhelm us, it carries on like it has over
the last ten years." The UN report also paints a grim picture
regarding the shrinking of glaciers, which will affect Austria in
particular, ORF radio notes.


Probe into Navy Crew Capture


5. British Prime Minister Tony Blair insisted that no deal was
struck and no agreement reached with Iran for the release of 15
British Navy personnel, who returned home yesterday after their
thirteen-day detention in Tehran. However, Blair adds, it would be
sensible to pursue lines of communication which had been opened up
with the Iranian government.
All major Austrian media continue to comment on release of the
British sailors from Iranian detention.
Senior columnist for mass-circulation tabloid Kronen Zeitung Ernst
Trost argues that the "show around the release of the 15 British
soldiers masks the weakening of (Ahmadinejad's) own position. He is
big on words, but the masses who voted for him were bitterly
disappointed. So far, they have been waiting in vain for the better
life he promised. (...) The President needs threat scenarios like
the conflict about the nuclear program in order to divert attention
from the internal difficulties and rally the people behind him in
national solidarity."
In mass-circulation provincial daily Kleine Zeitung, foreign affairs
writer Erhard Hutter suggests that Blair's "warning to Iran about
the incalculable political costs of an unyielding attitude had an
effect at least in the moderate leadership circles of the country.
In the end, the pragmatists in Teheran kept the upper hand."
Foreign affairs editor for centrist daily Die Presse Christian
Ultsch suggests the "abrupt end of the affair can be explained by
one of two possibilities: Either the relatively moderate forces
prevailed in the internal Iranian struggle for power or there was a
deal with the West - or perhaps both. (...) Still more exciting is
another explanatory model: Those forces that strive to consolidate
the regional power gain of the past years prevailed in Iran. If
Teheran maneuvers itself further into isolation, the advantage that
the US-induced toppling of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam
Hussein in Iraq has brought for Iran could melt away like butter in
the sun."


Harsh Criticism of Pelosi Trip


6. The Bush administration has stepped up its criticism of
Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in
the wake of her recent Middle East trip. Vice-President Cheney
accused Pelosi of what he called "bad behavior" for telling the
Syrians that Israel was prepared to enter peace negotiations. This
prompted Israel to say its neighbor must first abandon support for
terrorist groups.
Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung quotes Pelosi as explaining after
her meeting with the Syrian President that Bashar Al-Assad has
underscored his wish for peace with Israel. She had been "extremely
pleased with the President's assurance that he was prepared to
re-launch the peace process," Pelosi said. However, according to the
daily, after the media floated reports about an Israeli offer of
peace talks with Syria, Premier Ehud Olmert immediately denied it,
stressing that for Israel Syria remains part of the "axis of evil."

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