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P 131356Z FEB 07
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SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/AGS, INR/EU, AND EUR/PPD FOR YVETTE SAINT-ANDRE 
 
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WHITEHOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO AU OPRC
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: February 13, 2007 
 
 
Coalition Strife Continues 
 
¶1. The infighting in the SPOe/OeVP coalition has culminated in a 
sharp attack by Minister for Environmental Issues, Josef Prll on 
Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, reproaching him for "lack of 
leadership qualities."  Prll said the OeVP did not have the 
impression that Gusenbauer sees himself as the head of the 
government team. This quarrel was apparently prompted by an 
announcement by Gusenbauer that he intended to nominate a climate 
protection expert - a move which offended Prll. In an interview 
with centrist daily "Die Presse," Greens party boss Alexander Van 
der Bellen predicts the coalition will not last the entire four-year 
term. 
About a month after the grand coalition came into being, it is 
threatening by division on several fronts, writes centrist daily 
"Die Presse." Aside from the current controversy between Prll and 
Gusenbauer, there is the recent quarrel between Minister of Economy 
and Labor Martin Bartenstein and Minister for Social Issues Erwin 
Buchinger about the former's proposition for an elderly care reform 
scheme. The SPOe has hit a low point in the polls and is subjected 
to charges of engaging in activism that lacks substance. The OeVP is 
quick to make use of this vacuum; the OeVP in Lower Austria, where 
provincial elections are due to be held in 2008, is eager to lash 
out against the SPOe. In the interview with "Die Presse," Greens 
party boss Alexander Van der Bellen accuses the coalition of a 
"launch failure" - the new government started badly by avoiding the 
big issues, from climate protection to an education offensive. 
According to Van der Bellen, the government program is an 
accumulation of targets without measures, and of measures without 
budgetary cover. "In this way, you can muddle through for a year or 
so, but this is hardly a program for four years," he concludes. 
 
Eurofighter Committee Resumes Investigation 
 
¶2. On Tuesday, former Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel and Minister for 
Economy and Labor Martin Bartenstein will testify before the 
Eurofighter committee. Former Minister of Defense Herbert Scheibner 
testified Monday and described the Schuessel's role in the 
Eurofighter purchase as that of a "mediator" between the Ministry of 
Defense, which had opted for the Gripen, and the Ministry of 
Finance, which had recommended purchasing nothing at all, if 
possible - or, if that was not an option, purchasing the best 
equipment, namely the Eurofighter. Scheibner could not say how the 
Ministry of Finance concluded the Eurofighter was indeed the best 
product. 
The Committee is also investigating the connection between the 
controversial 6.6 million euro advertisement contract between the 
"100% Communications" agency of Gernot Rumpold, who coordinated the 
BZOe election campaign, and Eurofighter producer EADS. Media have 
reported that the Rumpold Agency spent only 2 million of the 6.6 
million on ads - it was not clear where the rest of the money went. 
Chancellor Gusenbauer had said that the Eurofighter contract would 
be obsolete if it turned out that some of the money had gone to the 
BZOe. 
 
US Ambassador McCaw Congratulates Interior Ministry 
 
¶3. Mass circulation tabloid "Neue Kronenzeitung" prints 
congratulations extended by US Ambassador McCaw to the Austrian 
Ministry of the Interior on its success in revealing an 
international child pornography ring. The Ambassador also commented 
favorably on the cooperation between the Ministry, other 
international law enforcement bodies, and the FBI. 
 
Tempting Offer for Kosovo 
 
¶4. On Monday, the EU foreign ministers signaled that they are ready 
to forge a compromise to get Belgrade to negotiate over the future 
status of Kosovo. In exchange for Belgrade's cooperation, the EU 
offered to resume talks about the association and stabilization 
agreement, which had been on ice since May 2006. 
In exchange for this offer, the EU expects Serbia to cooperate fully 
with the UN War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, reports mass 
circulation daily "Kurier." Serbia is to make clear concessions and 
initiate actions that will in the long run lead to full cooperation 
with The Hague. The conclusion of the agreement with Serbia would 
depend on all alleged war criminals being extradited. This EU 
decision amounts to a loosening of the EU position according to 
which Belgrade's former General Ratko Mladic and other alleged war 
criminalsmust be extradited as a precondition for resumption of 
talks with Serbia. What makes the talks with the Serbian political 
elite difficult is the fact that no new government has yet been 
formed in Serbia - if no agreement is concluded between the 
Democratic Party of President Tadic and the nationalist-conservative 
DSS of Prime Minister Kostunica by May, there will be new elections, 
writes the daily. Independent of inner-Serbian developments, the 
Kosovo negotiations will be resumed in Vienna February 21. 
 
North Korean Nuclear Talks Before Breakthrough 
 
¶5. A breakthrough in the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear 
program is apparently imminent. On Monday, US envoy Christopher Hill 
stated he was "very optimistic," adding "we have made great 
progress" toward an agreement on first disarmament steps by 
Pyongyang. Apparently, North Korea has consented to establish 
committees that will deal with how to implement the proposed 
agreement. Over the weekend, the six-party talks had been on the 
brink of being called off, the US saying it had exhausted its 
potential to compromise. 
The original US offer to North Korea had included energy supplies 
and a normalization of relations in exchange for ending the nuclear 
program - a mere freeze did not go far enough for the Americans. 
According to ORF online, China then put forth a compromise proposal 
which provides for North Korea shutting down its largest nuclear 
facilities two months from now and getting extensive energy 
deliveries in return. Apart from North Korea, China and the US, 
South Korea, Japan, and Russia still have to agree to the draft. The 
talks are to continue Tuesday. 
 
US:  Iran Supports Insurgents in Iraq 
 
¶6. Iran has rejected charges it supports insurgents in Iraq with 
weapons. On Sunday, the US military presented alleged evidence of 
Iranian interference. Teheran claims Iran did not interfere in the 
Iraq conflict - "any interference in the internal affairs of Iraq 
would weaken the Iraqi government," said an Iraqi government 
spokesman. On Monday, EU foreign ministers agreed on sanctions 
against Teheran, including trade restrictions for nuclear and 
missile technology, travel restrictions, and a freezing of financial 
assets. The US had complained that EU companies are undermining the 
sanctions to preserve the close economic ties between Teheran and 
the EU. 
According to independent daily "Der Standard," the US military 
presented bomb fragments, explosives and other alleged evidence for 
an Iranian intervention. The weapons fragments are being brought 
across the border by Iraqi smugglers, claimed the US military, 
adding that Iranian security forces are also involved and that they 
received orders "from the highest ranks of government." The Iranian 
Foreign Ministry rejects all the charges, stating that the Americans 
presented "weak evidence" which was "unacceptable." Centrist daily 
"Die Presse" reports that Teheran might be prepared to freeze its 
nuclear program and engage in negotiations. Spokesman for the 
Iranian Foreign Ministry Mohammed-Ali Hosseini indicated that his 
country does not rule out a moratorium on its uranium enrichment 
program to appease the concerns of the international community about 
Iran's nuclear program. On February 21, a further deadline set by 
the UN Security Council for the termination of the Iranian nuclear 
program will expire - speculation is that either Ahmadinejad's 
diplomatic advisors convinced him to tone down his rhetoric, or, 
alternately, that he has nothing to announce due to technical 
problems with the program. 
McCaw