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Dayna R Robison  09/20/2006 11:17:53 AM  From  DB/Inbox:  Dayna R Robison

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SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: September 05, 2006 
 
 
SPOe and LIF Join Forces 
 
¶1. The Social Democrats (SPOe) have entered an "election alliance" 
with the Liberal Forum (LIF) by providing the party one space for a 
parliamentary seat on their federal ballot list in an effort to 
broaden the Social Democrat's overall appeal to voters in the 
upcoming general election. SPOe leader Alfred Gusenbauer said he 
hoped the move would show that "the SPOe is a very broad movement 
which can also be attractive to liberal voters." The decision has 
created a rift within the Liberal Forum, with some members leaving 
the party over what they call a "critical move." 
According to Gusenbauer, the move is aimed at preventing formation 
of yet another coalition between the People's Party (OeVP) and the 
Alliance for Austria's Future (BZOe), as well as guaranteeing 
parliamentary representation for those who support the LIF's 
political platform. LIF leader Alexander Zach explained that the 
"olive tree alliance" of Italian premier Romano Prodi served as a 
model for the collaborative scheme. 
Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung quotes Austrian political analyst 
Peter Filzmaier as saying he considers the move risky. He believes 
that, although they could attract some new voters, the SPOe could 
also lose votes to the Greens as a result of joining forces with an 
economically liberal party. Others, such as Wolfgang Bachmayer of 
the OGM market research institute and Guenther Ogris of the SORA 
research group, think the new strategy is a positive step. According 
to Bachmayer, the move may have a "psychological effect," signaling 
that the SPOe has become stronger and more modern. Ogris said he 
believes the SPV can only stand to gain and only a small number of 
voters will be put off by the move. 
 
 
Home Care Personnel Soon Legal 
 
¶2. Economics Minister Martin Bartenstein (OeVP) presented draft 
legislation on Monday which would allow foreign home care personnel 
- those who care for the sick and elderly -- to work legally in 
Austria by eliminating the seven-year transition period required for 
private personnel from other EU countries. 
Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung reports that Bartenstein's draft 
proposal will go through a four-week review process. Revision will 
therefore continue after the general election October 1. However, 
the Minister is optimistic the new law can enter into force on 
November 1. The OeVP's junior collation partner BZOe, however, says 
it opposes the move. 
 
 
EU to Create Immigration Commissioner? 
 
¶3. The European Commission is reported to be considering creating a 
new position to deal with immigration. Sources in Brussels say the 
post of Immigration Commissioner could be created when Bulgaria and 
Romania join the EU in 2008. There is growing pressure on the EU to 
take action on immigration, as thousands of illegal immigrants are 
arriving by sea from Africa. 
In mass-circulation daily Kurier, Brussels correspondent Margarethe 
Kopeinig suggests the EU needs to solve the problem of refugees from 
Africa "for reasons of self-interest, and not because of 
compassion." The EU leaders are well aware that illegal immigrants 
"won't be stopped by laws or walls." However, they have "so far 
failed to muster the courage to come up with a clear immigration 
concept." All this, despite the fact that - according to Kopeinig - 
it "does not require any lofty moral standards to do so; cool 
rationality would already go a long way" toward finding a solution. 
"From an intellectual point of view, we know that something has to 
happen in Europe's backyard to prevent people from fleeing their 
countries," she says, suggesting "better perspectives, money and 
food. Even more wretched conditions in Africa will not make Europe 
safer. Even the populists know that. If Europe does not want to 
import instability, insecurity and terrorism, it will have to stem 
the flow of immigrants in cooperation with Africa. Helping them to 
help themselves does not seem to be such a bad strategy." 
 
 
Operation Medusa 
 
¶4. More and more often, NATO forces stationed in Afghanistan need to 
carry out large-scale operations against Taliban troops. Currently, 
"Operation Medusa" is aimed at driving out of the south and east of 
the country those Islamists who came in from Pakistan and are 
controlling large parts of Kandahar province. Although NATO claims 
many Islamist fighters are killed in such operations, terrorists 
have repeatedly managed to get as far as Kabul. Meanwhile, the 
record poppy harvest is also strengthening the Taliban. 
Chief editor Viktor Hermann suggests in independent provincial daily 
"Salzburger Nachrichten" that Afghanistan is "failing again." He 
comments: "Afghanistan is on its way back to being a 'failed state.' 
(...) Initially, the efforts at depriving terrorists of their home 
base by driving out the Taliban regime seemed to work. But the US 
and its allies made the same mistake in Afghanistan as they did 
later in Iraq: Too few troops, too little money, no sensible concept 
for building up new government structure in the country. (...) What 
we're dealing with here is not some 'unfortunate operation,' but a 
hopelessly wrong concept. (...) Bit by bit the Taliban are wresting 
the country back from the government in Kabul and its western 
allies." 
 
 
Iran Talks in Vienna 
 
¶5. The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana and 
Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani are expected to meet in 
Vienna tomorrow for talks on Iran's nuclear program. The meeting, 
which has not been officially confirmed, is likely to be the last 
opportunity to avoid a new push for sanctions against Iran at the UN 
Security Council. 
Foreign affairs writer for liberal daily "Der Standard" Michael 
Moravec comments on the Iranian nuclear conflict: "With its Security 
Council resolution, the UN obliged Iran by international law to 
suspend its nuclear program. The deadline passed, and nothing 
happened. (...) The international community's inability to solve the 
problem is likely to end disastrously. According to the foreign 
minister of one major EU country, Iran is headed straight for the 
atomic bomb. There is no other way to explain Tehran's blathering. 
(...) An Iran which supports Hezbollah and Hamas, and is in 
possession of nuclear weapons, is a global policy nightmare that 
should frighten even China and Russia. But for those two countries 
economic advantages seem to count more." 
McCaw