VZCZCXYZ0035
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHVI #3504/01 3411436
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071436Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5744
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC PRIORITY
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UNCLAS VIENNA 003504 
 
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 07, 2006 
 
 
Fischer Speaks Out On Haubner Law 
 
¶1. President Heinz Fischer has harshly criticized a Social Affairs 
Ministry decree denying family benefits to the children of some 
foreign-born women in Austria as "untenable." In a speech Wednesday, 
Fischer called for the regulation to be taken back. He pleaded for 
"fairness instead of unfairness, and laws that support children 
instead of excluding them." The some 150 hardship cases cited by 
Social Affairs Minister Ursula Haubner were "150 cases too many," 
Fischer warned. 
In addition to President Fischer's strong criticism of the Social 
Ministry's decree on family benefits, political parties including 
the SPOe and the Greens, and high-ranking Christian representatives 
in Austria, a group of leading Austrian NGOs are also continuing 
their criticism of Social Affairs Minister Ursula Haubner from the 
BZOe over her unwillingness to back down over the decree denying or 
delaying family payments to non-Austrian mothers residing legally in 
this country, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung reports. 
 
 
SPOe and OeVP Taking Their Time 
 
¶2. There has been no genuine progress lately in the ongoing 
negotiations on the formation of a grand coalition. The SPOe and 
OeVP seem to be in no hurry, and a government is still along way 
off. Austrian media speculate the two parties could be playing for 
time in order to prevent a grand coalition at the last moment. 
President Fischer has meanwhile urged the negotiation partners to 
speed up the process. 
Although the SPOe and the OeVP together with representatives from 
the business and labor sectors, held a sixth round of talks on 
forming a coalition government Wednesday, progress has been slow, 
and many issues remain unresolved, all Austrian media report. 
Mass-circulation tabloid Kronen Zeitung runs the front-page headline 
"SPOe and OeVP Reaching Impasse," arguing that a grand coalition 
would only make sense if major projects can be implemented. However, 
for many of the two parties' key issues, including pension and 
education reform or the so-called basic security payments, there is 
not enough money to do so. Meanwhile, mass-circulation tabloid 
Oesterreich believes the still-to-be-formed grand coalition 
government is already in a crisis: The daily suggests that instead 
of achieving progress, the SPOe and the OeVP have merely been 
quarrelling during their coalition talks. The Social Democrats are 
now concerned the Conservatives could be preparing to bail out of 
the negotiations altogether. 
 
 
Turkey Planning Sanctions against EU 
 
¶3. Should the European Union decide to put the Turkish membership 
process on hold, as it has threatened in the face of Ankara's 
refusal to recognize Cyprus, Turkey could reply with "sanctions" 
which, according to Turkish media, could include a stop to Ankara's 
cooperation with the EU regarding the Middle East conflict and the 
Iranian nuclear program, as well as on Europe's anti-drug, refugees 
and energy policies. 
After Austrian media earlier today suggested Turkey could impose 
"punitive measures" against the EU, should the Europeans suspend 
membership talks with Ankara, there have been further developments: 
According to a report by ORF online news, there has been movement in 
the dispute over Turkey's refusal to recognize Cyprus. A 
spokesperson for the Finnish EU Presidency announced that Ankara has 
signaled it is prepared to come around: Turkey says it is going to 
open one seaport and one airport for ships and planes from Cyprus, 
the spokesperson stated. Ankara has not yet confirmed these reports, 
which have also been floated in the Finnish media, writes ORF online 
news. 
 
 
Tough Iraq Study Group Report 
 
¶4. The report published Wednesday by the Iraq Study Group has 
President George Bush "in a tight spot," according to ORF 
television. The report contains some uncomfortable facts, describing 
the situation in Iraq as "grave and deteriorating," and -- as 
expected -- recommends a drastic change of course of Washington's 
policy. Both Republicans and the Democrats, however, see the Baker 
Commission report as an opportunity to change the situation for the 
better. "The question remains whether President Bush will follow the 
group's recommendations," ORF TV comments. 
All Austrian media give extensive coverage to the report on Iraq 
published Wednesday by the Baker Commission. According to liberal 
daily Der Standard, the report warns of potential civil war in Iraq, 
 
which would affect the entire region, and suggests the United States 
should launch direct negotiations with Syria and Iran. In centrist 
daily Die Presse, Washington correspondent Norbert Rief writes that 
one of the study group's proposals, calling for direct talks with 
Syria and Iran to bring abut a stabilization of Iraq, presents a 
sharp contrast to the White House's policy on the two countries so 
far. A new strategy in Iraq is needed to guarantee success, the 
Commission says. Meanwhile, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung 
reports that President Bush has said he will take the Commission's 
recommendation very seriously, although he may not follow all of 
them. Both mass-circulation daily Kurier and mass-circulation 
provincial daily Kleine Zeitung argue that the report is a "blow" 
and an "embarrassment for President Bush." Mass-circulation tabloid 
Kronen Zeitung even writes about a "death blow for President Bush's 
Iraq policy." 
 
 
Senate Confirms Gates 
 
¶5. Robert Gates has been confirmed as the next US Defense Secretary, 
replacing Donald Rumsfeld who stepped down last month. The Senate 
approved President George Bush's nominee just a day after Gates won 
the unanimous endorsement of the Senate's Armed Services Committee. 
The incoming Pentagon chief told the Senate Committee the US was not 
winning the war in Iraq and said he was open to new policy ideas. 
Senior columnist for mass-circulation daily Kronen Zeitung Ernst 
Trost commented on the confirmation of Robert Gates as new US 
Defense Secretary: "Robert Gates impressed the senators with his 
refreshing realism.  He analyzed the developments in Iraq and the 
mistakes that were made there as a reasonable human being, without 
the ideological blinkers of the neoconservative liberation and 
democratization ideologues. Now would be the time for these insights 
to pervade the walls of preconceived opinions around President Bush, 
and for the White House boss to give up his chosen isolation from 
the painful truth." 
McCaw