VZCZCXYZ0022
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHVI #3460/01 3351337
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 011337Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5687
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/WHITEHOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS VIENNA 003460 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/AGS, INR/EU, AND EUR/PPD FOR YVETTE SAINT-ANDRE 
 
OSD FOR COMMANDER CHAFFEE 
 
WHITEHOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO AU OPRC
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: December 01, 2006 
 
 
Progress in Coalition Talks 
 
¶1. The SPOe and the OeVP have reached an agreement on the so-called 
"basic security payments" -- a clear sign of progress in the 
negotiations between the two parties on the formation of a coalition 
government, Austrian media say.  According to the Social Democrats 
chief coalition negotiator, the deal envisages monthly payments of 
up to 726 Euros for some Austrians without pension entitlement, as 
well as for recipients of unemployment benefits, social welfare or 
emergency aid payments. 
The SPOe-OeVP's agreement on the so-called "basic security payments" 
is considered a breakthrough in the coalition talks. Applicants will 
have to fulfill certain conditions, though, ORF online news says: 
Retirees and unemployed persons do not automatically qualify for the 
basic security payment, and only people threatened by poverty will 
have the right to receive the support payments. It is not yet clear, 
how the payments will be financed, ORF online news adds. 
 
 
Family Benefits Regulation to Be Axed 
 
¶2. Following harsh criticism from constitutional experts, the OeVP 
is now backing demands by the Social Democrats to cancel a 
regulation introduced by the Social Affairs Ministry earlier this 
year. Since August, the Ministry has denied family benefits to 
children of some foreign-born women until they obtain a passport and 
a visa for the child. Minister for Social Affairs Ursula Haubner, 
however, is refusing to drop the regulation, stressing that as long 
as she remains in office, the rule would remain in place. 
On ORF Radio early morning news Morgenjournal, commentator Susanne 
Schnabl quotes Social Affairs Minister Ursula Haubner as emphasizing 
that the "regulation would remain in force as long as she remained 
in office. 'I don't see why I should take back the regulation; it is 
legitimate, because it only includes what's in the alien law 
package,' Haubner argued, adding that the law was passed in 2005 
with the support of the OeVP and the SPOe. The BZOe would therefore 
stay the course. Issues decided the year before continued to be 
valid, said the Minister, who said she was surprised about the 
OeVP's sudden change of course. SPOe boss Alfred Gusenbauer 
explained he had asked the Interior Minister to call on Haubner to 
solve the problem. Haubner, however, dismissed the SPOe leader's 
'notion he could charge someone to negotiate with me. I am a 
minister,' (...) and had a right to issue ministerial orders. 
Haubner also dismissed the alleged 7,000 cases in Austria of 
families denied benefits as 'exaggerated.' There were some 'isolated 
cases,' but never that many," reports Morgenjournal. 
 
 
Croatia to Join EU in 2010? 
 
¶3. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn believes Croatia will be 
ready to join the EU in 2010. Following a meeting with members of 
the Croatian government yesterday, Rehn emphasized that "if all 
conditions are met, Croatia could join the EU by the end of the 
decade." The country needs to "continue carrying out necessary 
reforms quickly," particularly in areas including the judiciary and 
civil service, the Commissioner added. 
According to liberal daily Der Standard online, the Enlargement 
Commissioner, currently in Croatia for a two-day visit, stressed 
that 2007 would be a "highly important year" for the country: 
Despite its being an election year, the reform process should 
continue as quickly as possible, Rehn said. A report on Croatia 
published by the EU Commission November 8, had "identified a number 
of problems, which still need to be solved." Rehn also underscored 
that for Croatia, the key to progress in the EU membership 
proceedings was in the hands of the country's government, its 
Parliament and NGOs. 
 
 
Austria Accused of Appeasing US over CIA Flights 
 
¶4. Austria's EU Presidency has been accused of appeasing the United 
States last spring on the issue of CIA overflights. 
Austrian Press agency APA writes that a report by the Brussels 
online service euobserver claims the Austrians tried to overcome 
US-EU differences about the CIA flights by offering an agreement 
which would have made secret transports of terrorist suspects 
possible, evading some of the extradition regulations under 
international law. Euobserver said that on May 3, there was a 
meeting between the Austrian EU Presidency and the highest legal 
advisor to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, John Bellinger. A 
secret protocol of the meeting allegedly shows the Austrians 
 
SIPDIS 
proposed the two sides agree on a framework agreement on common 
standards in the transport of terrorist suspects. This agreement was 
to be in line with the relevant international extradition rules "as 
far as possible". The Vienna Foreign Ministry, while not denying the 
meeting took place, insisted Thursday there had been no such 
compromise, dismissing the report as "absurd." Greens MP Peter Pilz 
meanwhile alleged in independent provincial daily Salzburger 
Nachrichten on November 30 that the Chancellor, Interior Minister 
and Transport Minister had helped cover up "CIA affairs" in Austria. 
There were more than 100 suspected cases of CIA violations of 
Austrian airspace. Pilz said that MEPs had had to depend on air 
surveillance data from non-EU member Switzerland because the 
Austrian data had been kept secret "in the interests of the CIA," 
the daily adds. 
 
 
 
Bush to Decide on Iraq Soon 
 
¶5. According to US National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, US 
President George Bush will decide on America's future Iraq policy 
soon. A decision will be made within "weeks rather than months," 
Hadley explained, following a meeting between the US President and 
Iraqi Premier Nuri Al-Maliki in Amman, Jordan, yesterday. Some 
Austrian media speculate a gradual US pullout from Iraq could begin 
next year, after Al-Maliki stressed Thursday that Iraq's forces will 
be ready to assume security control of the country in June 2007. 
All Austrian media report on what centrist daily Die Presse on its 
front page calls the "planned US withdrawal by degrees from Iraq." 
The daily's Washington correspondent Norbert Rief quotes from the 
report by the "Iraq Study Group," which recommends that up to 75,000 
US solders be pulled out of Iraq's more dangerous areas next year. 
This would put the troops out of harm's way while guaranteeing they 
remain ready to be deployed if necessary. The report also suggests a 
reversal of roles from a fighting towards a supporting force: 
American forces should fight less, and instead focus on assisting 
the Iraqi security forces. It seems -- Rief notes -- the US 
operation in Iraq is drawing to a close. Also, with the planned 
gradual withdrawal, the US wants to increase pressure on the Iraqi 
government to find a solution to end the sectarian violence. As long 
as Iraqi Premier Nuri Al-Maliki is under the impression that the US 
troops would remain in his country anyway, there was no reason for 
him to urgently address the problem of security, the Study Group 
argues. Although the US President emphasized after a meeting with 
Al-Maliki that American troops would remain in Iraq as long as 
Baghdad wanted them to, growing political pressure in the US, 
including from the ranks of the Republican Party, seems to indicate 
Bush will by and large follow the advice of the Iraq Study Group, 
Rief concludes. 
 
 
Lebanese Government Vows to Defy Protests 
 
¶6. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has said his government 
will not be brought down by mass protests planned by pro-Syrian 
opposition groups. Speaking live on national television, Siniora 
said his government "will not allow any coup against our democratic 
system." His remarks came ahead of a huge anti-government 
demonstration today called by Hezbollah and its allies. Tensions in 
Lebanon have soared since a leading anti-Syrian minister was killed 
and pro-Syrian MPs quit the cabinet. 
Ahead of the announced mass demonstrations staged by the Lebanese 
opposition against the government of Premier Siniora, the country's 
army, backed by tanks and armored vehicles, has taken up positions 
in several areas of the capital Beirut, ORF online news writes. 
Among others, the leader of the radical Shiite Hezbolla, Hassan 
Nasrallah, had called on people to join the protests aimed at 
bringing about the formation of a new unity government. 
McCaw