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PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHVI #3560/01 3491524
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 151524Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5791
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UNCLAS VIENNA 003560 
 
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 15, 2006 
 
 
January 11 - No Matter What 
 
¶1. Salzburg Governor Gabi Burgstaller of the SPOe emphasized that 
the new Austrian government would definitely be sworn in on January 
¶11. Should there be no agreement on a grand coalition with the OeVP 
by then, the Social Democrats would go ahead and form a minority 
government, Burgstaller added. 
According to a report by ORF online news, Salzburg Governor Gabi 
Burgstaller (SPOe) says the Social Democrats will have formed and 
sworn in a government early next year no matter what. The January 11 
date would not be changed, she stressed, adding that additional 
later deadlines for forming a grand coalition would be "grotesque." 
She is confident that the negotiations between the SPOe and the 
People's Party can be concluded as scheduled by January 11. Asked 
why the SPO and the OeVP had officially announced a date for the 
swearing in of the new grand coalition, Burgstaller explained the 
aim was "to speed up the government-formation process." 
 
 
Opposition Wary of SPOe-OeVP Plans 
 
¶2. Greens leader Alexander Van der Bellen says he doesn't believe 
there will be an agreement to form a grand coalition. FPOe boss 
Heinz-Christian Strache meanwhile says he finds the OeVP-SPOe 
schedule for setting up a coalition government "amusing." 
Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung reports the opposition Greens and 
the FPOe are skeptical about the SPOe and OeVP's announcement a 
government will be formed by January 11. Greens leader Alexander Van 
der Bellen is quoted as saying that despite statements Wednesday by 
SPOe and OeVP party leaders, he can see no reconciliation between 
the two. Van der Bellen added that the SPOe and the OeVP had been 
negotiating for ten weeks and had not reached agreement on a number 
of issues, which is why he is doubtful they will succeed in their 
efforts to form a grand coalition. In particular, the Greens leader 
pointed to as yet unresolved issues including the purchase of 
Eurofighter jets as well as education policy. In addition, topics 
such as that of policies on climate change or labor market plans are 
missing from the two parties' programs, Van der Bellen noted. 
Meanwhile, Freedom Party boss Heinz-Christian Strache, despite 
describing the OeVP-SPOe's self-imposed schedule as "amusing", says 
he believes both the deadline and a grand coalition are foregone 
conclusions. 
 
 
EU Consensus on Enlargement 
 
¶3. The European Union summit continues in Brussels today, with 
reform of the EU's institutions expected to dominate the meeting's 
second day. Yesterday, EU leaders agreed to slow down enlargement 
through the tight application of admission rules for new member 
states. 
Like all major Austrian media, centrist daily Die Presse reports on 
the EU's decision at the ongoing Brussels summit to put the brakes 
on enlargement. Bulgaria and Romania will be the last countries to 
be admitted in this decade; after that, the EU citizens will decide, 
the Presse says, and quotes Commission President Jos Manuel Barroso 
as stressing that "not the diplomats, but the people will determine 
the next enlargement round." To accommodate alienated EU citizens, 
the Union's heads of state and government on Thursday focused on the 
EU's "admission capabilities" in their attempt to slow down the 
enlargement process, the daily says. 
Meanwhile, in an interview with independent provincial daily 
Salzburger Nachrichten, EU Foreign Relations Commissioner Benita 
Ferrero-Waldner said that Turkey as a "candidate country, should be 
treated fairly, which it was." However, she pointed out, Turkey 
"does not only have rights, but also responsibilities," and thus 
cannot expect "preferential treatment." Still, she underscored, the 
member states also needed to find better ways to communicate EU 
decisions at home. 
 
 
Bawag Goes to Cerberus 
 
¶4. It has been announced that a consortium headed by US company 
Cerberus Capital Management has won the bid to buy the Austrian 
union-owned bank Bawag for 3.2 billion Euros. The Austrian Unions 
Association OeGB said the consortium was chosen because they want 
the bank to continue to have strong Austrian identity. 
All Austrian media give extensive coverage to the announcement that 
Austrian bank Bawag will be sold to Cerberus Capital Management. 
ORF radio early morning news Morgenjournal in an analysis looks at 
"what and whom the consortium stands for." The "somewhat 
aggressive-sounding name Cerberus was chosen for the three founders 
of the consortium in 1992. After all, the mythical 'hound of hell' 
also had three heads. Today, the consortium -- headed by former US 
Secretary of the Treasury John Snow - is active in about 40 
 
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countries all over the world. (...) Currently, Cerberus is setting 
up a powerful European branch, called 'Cerberus European Capital 
Advisors.' (...) The consortium is experienced in financial recovery 
of banking institutions. Bawag will serve as European headquarters 
of GM Bank, also recently salvaged by Cerberus. The consortium sees 
itself as a respectable financial investor," ORF radio says. 
 
 
"Distressed Hedgehog" at US Embassy Vienna 
 
¶5. Two Austrian dailies report on the construction of a security 
fence and lighting around the US embassy's property at 
Boltzmanngasse in Vienna's 9th district. 
Mass-circulation tabloid Oesterreich in its Vienna news section 
headlines "Dispute over Steel Fence around Embassy." The daily 
writes about the existing disruption of vehicular and pedestrian 
traffic in Bolzmanngasse because of the temporary barrier around the 
embassy property and claims the situation will get worse by March 
2007 with construction of a new 10-foot-high steel fence. The 
decision to build this new fence was prompted, Oesterreich claims, 
by new terrorist threats. A Boltzmanngasse resident alleges that she 
has to go through the "checkpoint" every day with her baby buggy and 
suggests the US Embassy move out of downtown. Oesterreich also -- 
wrongly -- states the Embassy refused to comment officially on the 
issue. 
Similarly, mass-circulation tabloid Kronen Zeitung runs the headline 
"US Embassy Curling up like a Distressed Hedgehog." According to the 
tabloid, the Embassy is building something that "sounds like a 
prison cage," and neighbors are nervous about what the result will 
look like. The article points out, however, that pedestrian and 
bicycle traffic will have a wider passageway.  The Kronen Zeitung 
also did not quote from the embassy statement it received on the 
issue. 
 
 
FBI Visits Salzburg 
 
¶6. FBI experts were in Salzburg earlier this month to meet with 
representatives from the Austrian police's Disaster Victim 
Identification Group DVI in order to share their respective 
experiences in the area of disaster control. 
On December 6, independent provincial daily Salzburger Nachrichten 
reported on the meeting between representatives of the FBI -- 
Special Agents Gerry Reineke and Aaron Uhle, and Embassy Assistant 
Legal Attach Paul Caldwell -- and the Austrian DVI Group in 
Salzburg to discuss disaster control. The daily quotes Reineke as 
stressing the FBI had "learned much since September 11. We've 
adapted our structures, and now we have the opportunity to set up 
task forces that include representatives from the federal, state and 
community police." This had already proved useful in the 
post-hurricane Katrina efforts, he noted.  Karl-Heinz Wochermayr 
from the Austrian police explains that procedures are similar in 
Austria. He also stressed the importance of meeting and establishing 
contacts with his FBI colleagues. Special Agent Aaron Uhle agrees, 
adding it makes it "much easier to coordinate" efforts. To conclude 
the visit, the Austrian hosts invited their US colleagues to the 
Salzburg Advent market, the daily writes. 
 
 
Election Test for Ahmadinejad 
 
¶7. Iranians are voting for local councils and an influential 
clerical body today. It will be the first election since hard-line 
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad assumed office in 2005; the vote is 
considered an important test of public support for Ahmadinejad and 
his allies. 
All Austrian media agree that the Iranian vote today is the first 
electoral test for President Ahmadinejad. Mass-circulation daily 
Kurier headlines "tricky decisions in Iran," and argues that the 
elections for the country's so-called "Council of Experts," a 
clerical body, are marked by a power struggle over leadership. Voter 
turnout is expected to be low, however: Young, cosmopolitan Iranians 
in particular, the daily's foreign affairs writer Konrad Kramar 
says, are so tired of the Mullah's politics that they see no reason 
to go to the polls. This is one of the factors that helped sweep 
radial populist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unexpectedly to power last time, 
writes Kramar. Today's vote will determine whether religious 
fundamentalists from the President's circle of supporters will win 
the majority in the Council of Experts, which would give the 
religious fanatics in Iran complete control of the country: One of 
the council's key functions is to elect Iran's supreme religious 
 
 
leader - the ultimate authority in Iran. 
McCaw