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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO AU OPRC
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: October 13, 2006 
 
 
OeVP Wants Ministry of Finance 
 
¶1. Coalition negotiations over formation of a new government begin 
Friday. OeVP says it will play hardball, trying to push through its 
budget goals and retain the Finance Ministry. Current Minister 
Karl-Heinz Grasser no longer rules out staying in office in the next 
government.  Independent daily "Der Standard" reports that Minister 
of Finance Karl-Heinz Grasser gave a budget account on Thursday 
where he claimed to remain "very relaxed" in the face of the 
coalition negotiations. Asked whether he could imagine staying on 
under a Chancellor Gusenbauer, Grasser replied that he did not yet 
know whether Gusenbauer would actually become chancellor. Grasser's 
budgetary record contains a lower budget deficit than so far 
assumed. He also insisted that a zero deficit for 2008 was realistic 
and demanded that every new project of the coming government would 
have to be presented together with a plan for how it will be 
financed. 
 
Greens Expected to Name Next Citizens' Attorney 
 
¶2. Green parliamentarian Terezija Stoisits will probably become the 
next head of the Citizens Attorney's Office. The Greens' third-place 
finish in the national elections allows them to claim the position, 
which so far has been held by the FPOe. The Greens will also occupy 
the position of third President of the Federal Assembly, for which 
they also intend to nominate a woman. Terezija Stoisits, the Greens' 
candidate for the position of Citizens' Attorney, has been a Member 
of Parliament for 16 years. Born in Croatia, the expert for human 
and rights has retained her ethnic roots and has always been at the 
forefront fighting for civil rights for Austrians and foreigners, 
and especially for minority groups. Stoisits will probably assume 
office middle of next year, when her predecessor has finished his 
term. The Office for Citizens' Rights was founded in the seventies 
with the aim of creating an institution that could mediate between 
the citizens in quest of legal advice and the bureaucracy. The 
Office for Citizens' Rights has three chairpersons, one from each of 
the three largest parties. During the past few years, its position 
has been weakened because state, provinces and communes have 
privatized parts of their administrative institutions, writes 
independent daily "Salzburger Nachrichten. 
 
Setbacks for Turkey 
 
¶3. This year's Nobel Prize for Literature went to the Turkish author 
Orhan Parmuk, who is prosecuted in Turkey because of his harsh 
criticism of the regime, just as the French Parliament passes a law 
forbidding denial of the Armenian genocide. Orhan Pamuk is known for 
his sharp criticism of the repression of the Armenians and Kurds by 
the Turkish government and therefore decried as a traitor by 
Turkish-nationalist groups. Centrist daily "Die Presse" points out 
that the symbolism inherent in this decision by the Swedish Academy 
in favor of Pamuk was enhanced by the French Parliament's decision 
to make the denial of the genocide of Armenians during the years 
1915-17 punishable by law. This decision is threatening to have a 
negative impact on relations between Turkey and the EU, especially 
France. According to the daily, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah 
G|l warned that the implementation of the law by France might 
provoke economic sanctions such as the exclusion of French 
enterprises from contracts. In the face of this threat, the French 
government might postpone the implementation of the law. President 
Jacques Chirac has already called it "unnecessary polemics" - 
however, he, too, demanded that Turkey acknowledge the genocide as a 
fundamental condition for EU membership. 
 
EU Pressure:  Retirement Age Should Be Increased 
 
¶4. EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Issues Vladimir Spindla 
warns that, in 2030, there will be a considerable deficit in the 
European labor force of about 20 million, due to low birth rates and 
increasing life expectancy. According to Spindla, immigration alone 
will not solve the problem. Mass circulation daily "Kurier" reports 
about the worrying prognosis with regard to Europe's future 
demographic development, quoting EU Commissioner Spindla as saying 
that the situation in Europe was a "time bomb" and solutions had to 
be found now. Spindla pointed out the necessity of "aging actively," 
called for more childcare facilities, and facilitating immigration. 
Austria does rather better in comparison to most EU states. It has 
already implemented a pension reform, however, it is lagging behind 
when it comes to keeping older employees in the work process. With 
regard to population growth, Austria is doing well - projections are 
that the Austrian population will grow by about ten percent until 
2050, writes the daily. 
Veto Powers Close to Agreement on North Korea 
 
¶5. Agreement of the five UN veto powers and Japan over sanctions 
against North Korea is in sight. US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton 
said Thursday that most of the Chinese and Russian objections have 
been eliminated. A resolution could come Friday. The strongest 
reaction to the nuclear test has so far come from Japan - it has 
decided to impose a total embargo for supplies from North Korea and 
a ban on North Korean ships wanting to anchor at Japanese ports. In 
addition, North Korean government officials may not travel to Japan 
during the next six months, writes ORF online, stating that this 
reaction was so far the sharpest answer from a member of the 
international community to the North Korean threat. According to 
reports of independent daily "Der Standard," South Korea is also 
considering measures:  More armament and possibly accepting the 
long-standing US offer to take South Korea under its protective 
nuclear shield. The South Korean army is preparing for various 
scenarios as a reaction to North Korea's testing of a nuclear bomb. 
In the meantime, China is contemplating taking a tougher stand 
against its ally. Criticism in the country is growing with regard to 
China's appeasement policy regarding North Korea, writes "Der 
Standard." 
 
Terror Fears in New York 
 
¶6. The accidental crash of a small plane into a New York skyscraper 
heightens fears of a new terrorist incident and raises questions 
about the security of the city's air space. Independent daily "Der 
Standard" refers in this connection to information, which the 
Federal Aviation Agency gave to the German weekly magazine "Der 
Spiegel." According to the FAA, there is an "Air Defense 
Identification Zone" over New York - three overlapping circles with 
the airports Kennedy, La Guardia and Newark in the center. Within 
this zone, planes can move around freely, provided that they 
announce a flight plan. Private jets simply have to identify 
themselves. A permanent military surveillance of the air traffic 
would be too expensive, said Bruce Hoffman, a terror prevention 
expert of the Rand Corporation, adding that the air space remained a 
"deplorably vulnerable point even after the attacks of 9/11." 
 
Republicans on the Defensive 
 
¶7. The Foley scandal has struck at the heart of the Bush party: That 
a Congressman who publicly fought for moral values sexually harassed 
an underage intern could harm the Republicans in the upcoming 
midterm Congressional elections. This scandal has now increased the 
Democrats' chances of winning congressional seats in the elections, 
writes semi-official daily "Wiener Zeitung." In various opinion 
polls, the Democrats were 21 to 23 percentage points ahead of their 
Republican opponents, endangering the latter margin not just in the 
House of Representatives, but also in the Senate. The popular 
dissatisfaction with George Bush's policies and the Iraq war has 
been aggrandized by the Foley scandal. The traditionally minded and 
religious Republican voters are bound to regard it as hypocrisy. 
Polls conducted by the "New York Times" and "CBS News" showed that 
79 percent of persons polled believed that the Republicans were more 
interested in political power than in the welfare of minors, writes 
"Wiener Zeitung." 
McCaw