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SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: October 31, 2006 
 
 
The Eurofighter Committee 
 
¶1. Despite massive protests from the OeVP and the BZOe, the Social 
Democrats -- with the support of the Greens and the Freedom Party -- 
went ahead during Parliament's first session yesterday with plans to 
create a committee to investigate the government's decision to 
purchase 18 Eurofighter jets. The three parties have also announced 
plans for an inquiry into recent banking scandals in Austria. 
Reporting on the issue like all Austrian media, semi-official daily 
Wiener Zeitung quotes Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, who complained 
about the SPOe, Greens and FPOe's decision to vote for an 
investigation into the Eurofighter deal, saying for the OeVP it was 
an "incomprehensible" move, and a launch of the new parliamentary 
session in an atmosphere of "controversy, irreconcilability and 
suspicion."  Centrist daily Die Presse meanwhile quotes from a 
decision by the OeVP leadership on the issue: The conservatives 
reject the SPOe's move as "a political tribunal, which calls into 
question Austrian airspace surveillance, criminalizes the 
acquisition of the interceptors and jeopardizes the offset deals." 
The OeVP also underscored that the Eurofighter purchase was the 
"most thoroughly-checked deal" in post WWII Austria. 
 
 
Coalition Talks on Hold 
 
¶2. As threatened, the OeVP has broken off talks with the Social 
Democrats on forming the next coalition government. People's Party 
leader Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said the SPOe's decision to 
join the Greens and the FPOe in voting for a parliamentary 
investigation into his government's purchase of Eurofighter 
interceptor jets was a "breach of trust." 
The OeVP's decision to call off coalition talks with the SPOe is 
front-page news in all of Austria. Like the majority of Austrian 
media, mass-circulation provincial daily Kleine Zeitung believes 
that with the OeVP's move, a re-run of the October 1 general 
elections in Austria has become even more likely than before. 
According to independent provincial daily Salzburger Nachrichten, 
the SPOe has already threatened to push for such a decision, and 
quotes Social Democrats' heavyweight and Vienna Mayor Michael Haeupl 
as warning that if the OeVP leaves the negotiation table, there is 
no way new elections can be avoided." According to the newspaper, 
no-one appears to be unduly concerned over the "specter of an 
election re-run." Not only the SPOe and the Greens, but the OeVP, 
too, could profit from such a move, the Salzburger Nachrichten 
believes. It is also not clear how long President Heinz Fischer will 
tolerate an interruption of coalition negotiations, the daily adds. 
Fischer will hold talks with the leaders of Austria's two major 
parties, Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel and SPOe boss Alfred 
Gusenbauer. 
 
 
SPOe's Reaction 
 
¶3. In response to the OeVP's decision to call off coalition 
negotiations, the Social Democrats have harshly criticized the 
Conservatives. SPOe party manager Norbert Darabos spoke of an 
"overreaction" on the part of the Conservatives, and demanded that 
Chancellor Schuessel's government resign. "The OeVP's canceling of 
the coalition talks shows that they still aren't over the election 
outcome," Darabos said. 
After the OeVP's decision last night to halt coalition talks with 
the SPOe, the Social Democrats urged the government to resign. Party 
manager Norbert Darabos, however, emphasized that it is still too 
early for a motion of no-confidence, ORF online news writes. 
Nevertheless, Darabos added, the current cabinet was apparently no 
longer willing to work for Austria, and should therefore either make 
room for a new government or for a new negotiation team within the 
OeVP. It was now up to the President to call the shots, Darabos 
continued, stressing that his party "remains interested in 
cooperation with the Conservatives, as this would reflect the will 
of the voters." Unlike Vienna Mayor Michael Haeupl, the party 
manager emphasized that although this was an option which could not 
be ruled out entirely, it was too early at this point to speculate 
about an election re-run, however. He is confident that there is 
"still time for the OeVP to come to its senses," and return to the 
negotiation table, in which case the Social Democrats would "of 
course continue with the coalition talks, ORF online quotes 
 
 
Bad Marks for Turkey 
 
¶4. In its progress report on Turkey, to be published next week, the 
EU Commission has listed shortfalls in areas including abolition of 
torture, implementation of increased control over the country's 
armed forces, and freedom of speech. 
Sourcing the Financial Times Deutschland, which says it has acquired 
a draft of the EU Commission's progress repot on Turkey, ORF online 
news writes that as proof for the insufficient control over the 
Turkish military the newspapers cites the army's strategy to 
continue to publish statements on "domestic and foreign policy, the 
issue of the Kurds, and the separation of church and state." In 
addition, freedom of opinion was not guaranteed, the Commission 
claims: There were "reports on cases of abuse and torture, 
particularly outside of state correction facilities." Further 
shortfalls listed in the report are corruption, the insufficient 
protection of minorities, and a lack of independence on the part of 
the judiciary. The Commission's report also criticizes Ankara's 
refusal to open its air- and seaports to Cypriot ships and planes, 
despite the EU's view that Turkey is obliged to do so. 
Bush on Democrats and Iraq 
 
¶5. In an election campaign speech, US President George Bush has 
accused the Democrats of not having a strategy for Iraq. Speaking in 
Statesboro, Georgia, yesterday, President Bush complained that "if 
you listen closely to the Democrats' plan for success - they don't 
have one." 
ORF online news reports on a campaign speech by US President Bush, 
who emphasized that although Iraq is the key front in the US fight 
against terrorism, the Democrats had no plan for victory there. It 
was the Democrats "goal to pull out of Iraq, while the Republicans' 
objective was to win there," Bush stressed. Leading Senate Democrat 
Harry Reid dismissed the President's allegations, saying Bush was 
"desperately trying to cling to power and to avoid accountability." 
The US "does not need a new PR campaign. We need a 
Commander-in-Chief who understands that it is about time to abandon 
the misleading and divisive rhetoric and to bring about a change of 
course," ORF online news quotes Reid.  Like many Austrian media, ORF 
online suggests that the Republicans are likely to lose their 
majority in both Houses of Congress in the November 7 election. The 
online news provider concedes that the Democrats have no uniform 
party policy on Iraq. 
 
 
Midterm Election Campaigns 
 
¶6. An Austrian daily publishes an analysis of the campaigns one week 
ahead of the mid-term elections on November 7, saying the political 
parties' aggressive mobilization strategies as well as the debate on 
moral and ethic values has alienated the political mainstream in the 
US. 
Foreign affairs writer Christoph Winder publishes an analysis of the 
campaigns for the US November 7 midterm elections in liberal daily 
Der Standard. Winder quotes Sen. John Danforth as trying to make the 
American public aware of the dangers of politics and moral positions 
being too closely connected. In a recently published book entitled 
"Faith and Politics," Danforth argues that the debate over "moral 
values" has divided the US and therefore needs to be abandoned 
quickly. The former Senator from Missouri is concerned about his 
observation that US policy has "experienced a change for the worse," 
since his career in Washington. The aggressive stance, with which 
political parties today attempted to mobilize their bases on 
so-called moral value topics including abortion or same-sex 
marriages, was a new and deplorable development, Winder quotes. 
According to Danforth, such tactics merely lead to a strengthening 
of extreme positions and to a marginalization of centrist or 
mainstream political groups and parties. He emphasized, though, that 
the majority of Americans reject such extreme positions. It remains 
to be seen, however, whether the Republicans will persevere again as 
the guardians of decency and moral superiority in the November 7 
vote, Winder says. After all, the recent sex scandals have severely 
damaged their image, the foreign affairs writer states. 
 
 
US Weapons Disappearing in Iraq 
 
¶7. According to a Pentagon report, four percent of the weapons the 
US has delivered to the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior to build up 
Iraqi security forces have disappeared. The weapons may never be 
traced, as fewer than three percent of the arms sent to Iraq have 
been registered or their serial numbers listed. 
According to a report in liberal daily Der Standard, there is reason 
to suspects that many of the disappeared US weapons originally 
provided for the Iraqi security forces may have ended up in the 
hands of Iraqi insurgents, and could thus be used against US forces 
in the country. 
Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung meanwhile writes that the US 
wants to curb ethnic violence in Iraq. Sourcing Jordanian newspaper 
Al-Arab Al-Yawm, the daily says a meeting between US military 
representatives and Iraqi insurgents is being prepared in Jordan's 
capital Amman. The Wiener Zeitung reports on ongoing violence, 
particularly in the Shiite Sadr City area in Baghdad, which is 
considered a stronghold of the so-called Mahdi militia responsible 
for countless attacks on Sunni citizens in the Iraqi capital. 
ORF radio early morning news Morgenjournal meanwhile reports that US 
Vice-President Dick Cheney has claimed al Qaeda and insurgents in 
Iraq have increased violence against US troops to try to influence 
the outcome of the midterm elections next week. 
 
 
Pakistan: Protests after Raid on Koran School 
 
¶8. In Pakistan over 10,000 mourners, who were gathered for the 
funeral of people killed in a helicopter strike on an Islamic 
school, have protested against their government's alliance with the 
US, and against their military. 
At a gathering of mourners in Pakistan for people killed in a raid 
on a Koran school, local Islamist leaders said most of the victims 
were students. Pakistani authorities, however, have said only 
militants were killed in the raid. The Pakistani government under 
President Pervez Musharraf had recently come under pressure from the 
US to provide more support in the fight against terrorism by moving 
against the semi-autonomous tribal regions near the Afghan border, 
semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung explains. 
McCaw