AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: March 06, 2008

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SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: March 06, 2008

Terrorism Trial Continues In Vienna


1. The trial of two people on charges connected with terrorism
threats will continue at a Vienna court today. Prosecutors are
planning to show a video clip which one of the defendants, Mohamed
M., allegedly took part in producing. The video was released on the
internet last March and threatened attacks against Austria and
Germany unless the two countries withdrew their troops from
Afghanistan. Austrian media comment that the trial is "uncharted
territory" for the prosecution, pointing out that this is the first
time in criminal proceedings in Austria that virtually all the
evidence is located on the internet, or that the question has arisen
of whether a defendant wearing a burqa is admissible in court.


Ministers Call For Rent Freeze and Lower Prices for Medications


2. The Justice and Healthcare Ministers are calling for a freeze on
rents and lower prices for medications as a means of dealing with
the effects of continued high inflation on Austrians with low and
medium incomes. SPOe Justice Minister Maria Berger has called for an
end to automatic annual adjustment of rents for housing based on
past inflation rates. At the same time, OeVP Healthcare Minister
Andrea Kdolsky has threatened to introduce legislation providing for
lower prices for medications, if the pharmaceutical industry fails
to agree on price reductions with the social insurance providers by
next week.
Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung online writes about the Justice
and Healthcare Ministers' call for a freeze on rents and lower
prices for medications as responses to the effects of continued high
inflation on Austrians with low and medium incomes. Currently, rents
are raised each April by the amount of inflation in the previous
December, which would mean an increase of 3.6 percent this April.
Justice Minister Maria Berger (SPOe) wants to extend the periods
between rent increases and is planning to introduce legislation to
that effect. She is also going to establish a working group on the
issue that will come up with a draft bill by late summer or early
autumn. At the same time, OeVP Healthcare Minister Andrea Kdolsky
wants to introduce legislation providing for lower prices for
medications. However, she has rejected SPOe Social Affairs Minister
Erwin Buchinger's suggestion to use the proceeds of a capital-gains
tax to help finance the national healthcare system. The Minister has
also dismissed SPOe Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer's proposal to link
tax and healthcare reforms. Kdolsky has set up an experts group to
tackle the long-term financial security of Austria's national
healthcare system, which also includes representatives from the
World Bank and Price Waterhouse Coopers.


Austrians Would Prefer Burgstaller and Proell as Heads of Party
Lists


3. Austrians don't want SPOe Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer and OeVP
Vice-Chancellor Wilhelm Molterer to head their parties' respective
lists in the next general election. Instead, they would prefer
Salzburg SPOe Governor Gabi Burgstaller and Lower Austrian OeVP
Governor Erwin Proell. A survey by polling institute OGM
commissioned by Austrian television has shown that 34 percent of
SPOe voters would opt for Burgstaller, while in the OeVP's case 30
percent support Proell, according to ORF TV's domestic policy
program Report.


"Clinton Is the Comeback Kid"


4. ... said US political analyst Jerry Hagstrom in a digital video
conference hosted and organized by PAS-Vienna for a select group of
Austrian foreign affairs journalists Wednesday. Democratic
presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton's victory in Tuesday's
primaries in Texas and Ohio "may appear as a signal to many voters
to reconsider their enthusiasm for Barack Obama," Hagstrom said,
voicing his doubt that the Illinois Senator can be certain to
continue his string of victories now. The Clintons, Hagstrom
emphasized, are "serious politicians," who are known for having
successfully "bounced back" before in seemingly hopeless situations.
Several Austrian media report on a digital video conference with US
political analyst Jerry Hagstrom, which was hosted and organized by
PAS-Vienna for a select group of Austrian media representatives
Wednesday. Austrian Press Agency APA runs the headline "US political
expert on Clinton victory: voters reconsider Obama support." For
many people in the US, Clinton's success in the Ohio and Texas
primaries may have been a signal to for voters to "prepare to put
the brakes on" the all-encompassing enthusiasm for Barack Obama,
Hagstrom suggested. Unlike many other analysts, he does not think
Bill Clinton's support for Hillary is a setback: No-one had any
doubts whatsoever that the Clintons are "very serious politicians."
Besides, Hagstrom added, it would be a mistake to dismiss either the
former US President's appeal with regard to African American voters
or the lasting impact of the Clinton years in voters' memories. For
now, Hillary Clinton's strategy to stress Barack Obama's lack of
experience, particularly with regard to national security issues,
has paid off.

Sourcing APA, ORF online news also reports on the DVC, quoting
Hagstrom as being increasingly certain Clinton might yet win the
Democratic presidential nomination. In the meantime many Democrats
are concerned the drawn-out competition between their party's two
leading candidates will benefit the Republicans in the end, no
matter whether it is Clinton or Obama running for the presidency.
The Democratic nightmare, according to Hagstrom: the longer the
Clinton-Obama rivalry continues, the greater the tension within the
Democratic Party, which would only play into the hands of their
political rivals.

Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung quotes the expert as suggesting
Hillary Clinton may owe her latest victories to the support of
Latino voters. The questions of race and religion are decisive
factors in the race for the White House in any case. Thus, like
Clinton with the Latinos, Barack Obama can bank on the support and
solidarity of African American voters.

Mass-circulation daily Kurier says Hagstrom does not want to write
off Clinton's at this point, and quotes the expert as stressing
Barack Obama would need a considerable lead in the polls to win the
November elections. Despite what they might say in public, many US
voters are likely to decide against an African American presidential
candidate. Besides, Obama is not undisputed among African American
voters, either. The fact that his father is from Kenya, and thus not
a descendant of slaves brought to the US, is an important factor,
the analyst pointed out. He also stressed that Obama appealed
primarily to upper-middle-class and college-educated people.
Besides, unlike in previous primaries and caucuses, he had failed to
win over voters from traditional Clinton supporting groups, such as
Latinos or blue collar workers. Furthermore, many of the states
where the Senator from Illinois won the primaries are considered
Republican strongholds anyway.

Liberal daily Der Standard, too, picked up Hagstrom's line about US
voters now being "prepared to put the brakes on their enthusiasm for
Obama." The daily quotes the experts as suggesting "in the end it
may fall to the super delegates to determine the outcome of race for
the White House" between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Still,
Tuesday's victories had undoubtedly given Clinton a "great deal of
momentum." For the first time, "voters are saying, maybe we should
think twice" about Obama, Hagstrom stressed. He also explained the
Iraq War may be one of the reasons why Clinton can bank on the
support of the Latino voters much more than Obama: Many Latinos are
soldiers in Iraq, and they and their families "want someone in the
White House who supports the troops." Unlike Clinton, however, Obama
had opposed the US-led war in Iraq from the beginning.


President Bush Endorses McCain


5. US President George W. Bush has endorsed John McCain's bid to win
the White House for the Republican Party. President Bush described
McCain as a "friend," and said he would be a "president with the
determination to defeat an enemy." McCain said he had "admiration,
respect and affection" for George Bush, who beat him in the
Republican primaries in 2000.
Meanwhile, all Austrian media continue to report on Democratic
presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton's comeback in the Texas and
Ohio primaries. In a commentary entitled "Showdown in the Wild
West," one Austrian daily says her "survival plan paid off,"
successfully "averting her political dreams' premature end," says
liberal daily Der Standard.


Deterioration of Situation in Gaza


6. Human rights groups and aid agencies have warned of a "dramatic
deterioration" of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip,
which is "worse now than at any time since the Israeli occupation of
1967." The organizations, including Amnesty International, Save the
Children and Care International, have described Israel's blockade of
Gaza as "illegal collective punishment." The people in Gaza have

been "stripped of their dignity," which is why "hope has given way
to despair," an aid agency representative told Austrian radio.
Liberal daily Der Standard publishes an interview with Taghreed
El-Khodary- journalist for the New York Times - on the situation in
the Gaza Strip. Despite its serious loses, Hamas will emerge
stronger from its fighting with the Israeli army, because the
radical organization had always profited from crises, El-Khoday
suggests. The people in Gaza are "unbelievably angry with Israel.
They feel they are living under an occupying regime. Many feel that
Israel has refused to give Hamas a chance. Then there are others who
are furious both with Israel and Hamas, because they know both sides
are playing their games: With its attacks, Hamas is trying to force
Israel to accept a cease-fire; it wants Israel to come around and
open the borders of the Gaza Strip; but Israel has refused to do
so." Many people in the Gaza Strip, the journalist points out,
support Hamas, because they feel the organization is much closer to
them and their daily concerns than President Mahmoud Abbas. Despite
Israel's withdrawal of its troops from Gaza, El-Khodary believes "it
is not over yet. Israel has pulled out, but you can still hear the
F-16 above Gaza. They will launch more air strikes. The use of
ground forces was merely a message for Hamas; it was Israel saying
they can return any time to occupy the Gaza Strip." Hamas,
meanwhile, "wants a cease-fire with Israel, but not one negotiated
from a position of weakness."


Tensions between Venezuela and Colombia


7. Venezuela says it has moved thousands of troops towards its
border with Colombia. Venezuela ordered the mobilization after
Colombia conducted a raid into Ecuador to attack FARC rebels. In
addition, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has threatened his
country may impose sanctions on Colombia in response to its attack
on FARC rebels in Ecuador. Meanwhile, the Organization of American
States has ruled that Colombia violated Ecuador's sovereignty, but
has stopped short of a formal condemnation, and Ecuador has also
mobilized troops, according to ORF TV's rime time news Zeit im Bild
I on Wednesday.
Kilner