MEDIA REACTION: IRAN, OLYMPICS, NIDEAST, EU; Berlin

UNCLAS BERLIN 001242 STATE FOR INR/R/MR, EUR/PAPD, EUR/PPA, EUR/CE, INR/EUC, INR/P, SECDEF FOR USDP/ISA/DSAA, DIA FOR DC-4A VIENNA FOR CSBM, CSCE, PAA "PERISHABLE INFORMATION -- DO NOT SERVICE" SIPDIS E.0. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO IR US XF EU SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAN, OLYMPICS, NIDEAST, EU; Berlin ¶1. Lead Stories Summary ¶2. (Iran) Nuclear Conflict ¶3. (Olympics) Impact on Obama Administration ¶4. (Mideast) Goldstone Report ¶5. (Ireland) Aftermath of Irish Vote On Lisbon Treaty ¶1. Lead Stories Summary Print media lead with the coalition talks between the CDU/CSU and the FDP (FAZ),Iran's ability to build the bomb (Sueddeutsche),the conflict on who should become the new finance minister (Die Welt), and an interview with Bundesbank President Axel Weber (Handelsblatt). Editorials focused on Irish approval to the Lisbon Treaty, coalition talks and Iran's ability to build an atomic weapon. ZDF-TV's early evening newscast heute and ARD-TV's early evening newscast Tagesschau opened with reports on the upcoming coalition talks. ¶2. (Iran) Nuclear Conflict Sddeutsche (10/05) led under the headline "Iran can build a nuclear weapon," and notes in its intro that, "according to an internal document of the IAEA, Iran has the necessary knowledge to build a nuclear weapon. This is the result of an analysis of documents from various secret services." The paper editorialized: "It is too early to speak of a breakthrough because it remains unclear whether Tehran will do what its negotiators promised. However, after years of standstill, the Geneva talks with Iran presented a prospect for an exit from the nuclear dispute.... Iran insists on the right to enrich uranium. The West could allow this to the Iranians - but only if Iran stores this material in a third country and processes it there into fuel rods. Another condition is that Iran allows comprehensive inspections as envisaged by the NPT." Frankfurter Allgemeine (10/05) editorialized on the front-page: "The Islamic Republic of Iran does not seem to be interested in being further internationally isolated. This is how we have to interpret the recent U-turn in Tehran, which happened after the recently successful talks in Geneva on the Iranian nuclear program.... Tehran has apparently realized that it would lose supporters who were in the past less inclined to impose sanctions than Washington if it continues its recent policy.... If the development continues to go in this direction, ElBaradei was right to stick to the conviction that the conflict can be resolved diplomatically... In the U.S., however, the mistrust is bigger than in Europe. For good reason--since Iran is also working on developing long-range missiles." Die Welt (10/05) opined: "Is the Tehran elite tired of its international isolation after years of pursuing obstructive and confrontational policies? It is more likely that the mullah regime cannot buy fuel for its plant on the world market because of existing sanctions. The offer to enrich uranium under international oversight came in handy. There is no reason to be hopeful." ¶3. (Olympics) Impact on Obama Administration Since Saturday Germany celebrated the Day of German Unity, there were no newspapers. However, a few papers carried online reports on the IOC's decision to award Rio with the Olympic Games 2016. FAZ online carried the headline "Slap for Obama" and characterized losing the Olympics to Rio as an "embarrassing defeat." Sueddeutsche online: "Crash for Obama," Welt online: "Chicago and Obama in shock," Tagesspiegel: "Barack out of luck." Spiegel online is reporting how Republicans in the U.S. have attempted to exploit the outcome for political advantage. Welt am Sonntag (10/04) carried a news report headlined: "Olympic Affront Against Obama" and wrote: "The IOC awarded Rio with the summer games in 2016 and affronts the U.S. president.... On his return flight from Copenhagen, President Obama had to swallow the most bitter pill of his presidency. After the first run-off elections IOC head Jacques Rogge had to announce the Chicago was eliminated with only 18 votes of the available 94 votes. Obama owes his defeat to the miserable international standing of his most important sports functionaries. For years, the National U.S. Olympic Committee has fallen by the wayside. It does not even have an IOC board member. Too late and in a too recalcitrant way, the U.S. Olympic Committee approved an amendment to the restrictive contract from those times when almost all IOC sponsors came from the United States. Now the Americans were punished for the fact that only in 2020 a new distribution formula [for the funds the IOC earns] will be applied." In an editorial under the headline: "Obama's First Rejection," Welt am Sonntag noted: "This is painful defeat for Barack Obama. It will have a lasting effect that the charismatic U.S. president was unable to win with his greatest trump card: the suggestion the he could give the United States a totally new face abroad. For a politician who attaches great significance to symbols, such symbolic failures could have devastating consequences. At home he has almost reached the normal status of a controversial politician and in foreign policy he may not yet have achieved clear successes, but...with his international charm-offensives, which have always been accompanied with glorious pictures, the expectations of his fellow Americans that their country will now be received with open arms everywhere in the world has increased tremendously. If the United States is now being rejected during such a comparably minor occasion, the insult to national pride is now all the greater." Under the headline: "United States, We Don't Like You!," FAZ Sonntagszeitung (10/04) reported: "President Obama flew to Copenhagen for five hours, delivered a speech and shook numerous hands, only to be snubbed a few hours later by an accumulation of former sports professionals, aristocrats, VIPs and sport functionaries. The sobering conclusion of the President's brief visit: with all his charisma, the President only managed to get a picture in the photo album of the IOC members. One of the messages from the IOC members following the election result is: U.S., we do not like you.... In addition, there is a sound reason for all IOC functionaries, to be critical towards the National U.S. Olympic Committee. Due to an old, unlimited contract, the USOC receives the same share in Olympic income as all other 204 IOC members together. Only with great difficulty, the IOC succeeded in wrestling the concessions from the USOC to take over a higher share in Olympic costs and to approve new negotiations about this contract in 2013. But these concessions were obviously too small." ¶4. (Mideast) Goldstone Report "Setback for the Peace Process," is the headline in die tageszeitung (10/05),which editorialized: "Under pressure from the United States, the UN Human Rights Council has postponed a decision on accepting the report of the Goldstone Commission on the crimes committed during the most recent Gaza War. This is a bitter setback for efforts to finally end the impunity for human rights violations and violations of international law in the Middle East. The reort of the UN fact- finding commission would offer the best possible basis for such efforts. The allegation of the Obama administration that the acceptance of the report would jeopardize the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians is simply wrong. It is not the documentation and prosecution of serious human rights violations that jeopardize peace, but the ongoing impunity and the lack of justice are escalating the conflict and preventing a peaceful solution." ¶5. (Ireland) Aftermath of Irish Vote On Lisbon Treaty Deutschlandfunk 10/03) commented: "The nail-baiting over the basis of the European Union is not over yet... The Lisbon Treaty now depends on the signature of only one person, the Czech president. This is not a comforting prospect. Klaus likes playing the role of single man who fights against the rest of the world. The Euro-skeptic loves it when everybody focuses on him. The situation is therefore dangerous for the European Union. Klaus's rejection of the Czech ratification document has nothing to do with democracy. This is the one-man show of an anti-European.... As a result, the EU faces a dilemma even though the Irish said yes.... Only the Czechs and Czech politicians can bring their president to his senses.... The EU remains the community of 27 countries in which every single one of them can apply on the emergency brakes. This is sad, maybe even tragic. However, the wrangling over the Lisbon Treaty shows that many citizens cannot cope with a more deeply integrated Europe." Frankfurter Allgemeine (10/04) carried an editorial on its front page: ""The remarkable clarity of the Irish "yes" indicates the depth of Irish angst. Until the international financial crisis broke out, leading to the collapse of the Irish property market, the Irish believed that Europe, which boosted its economic growth, was good enough as it was.... With the approval of the Lisbon Treaty by the Irish, the British conservatives are now running into difficulties... The Irish yes makes it likely that the treaty will come into force by the time Cameron's Tories have won the elections next spring... Also the British people are unsure and reconsider the old issue of replacing the pound by the euro. The Irish yes could give this a boost." Sddeutsche Zeitung (10/05) editorialized: "The Irish "yes" is the last stone in the new foundation of the European reform. It prevents Europe from collapsing and plunging into political insignificance. And it offers Europe the opportunity to influence international policies.... The EU has proven to the world that it can reform itself. It must now show determination to take action. The first opportunity is the nomination of the first EU Council president and the upgraded representative for foreign and security policies." Die Welt (10/05) remarked in an editorial: "The Irish yes is an improvement and increases the pressure on the Czechs and the Poles. Warsaw, which feels neglected by its American patron, will think twice whether it wants to be left alone in Europe. The same is true for the Czechs, whose president, Klaus, embodies their resistance. His concerns are legitimate, but it would also be legitimate by the larger EU countries to make clear to Prague what it means if one small country blocks the process. The Czech Republic cannot be interested in a two-speed Europe." Berliner Zeitung (10/05) rejected this view, saying in an analytical piece: "The 26 EU countries must not exert pressure on Klaus because this poses the risk that the stubborn EU skeptic could become more popular at home. However, the Czechs themselves could put pressure on their president." FT Deutschland (10/05) editorialized: "Klaus pretends to defend national sovereignty, but he actually pushes aside the will of the people by dubiously bending the rules. He remained popular for a simple reason: the Czechs, traumatized by occupation, like it when their president provokes Brussels. Europeans would be well-advised if they calmly watch the ratification process in the Czech Republic and do not express threats towards Prague. This would not just further stir up the president who is obsessed with his image, it would also strengthen the feeling among the people that the EU is a patronizing and oppressing apparatus." MURPHY