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P 231454Z FEB 07
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TAGS: KPAO AU OPRC
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: February 23, 2007 
 
No Comment from PR Company 
 
¶1. Erika Rumpold, head of public relations company 100 Percent 
Communications, which received over 6 million Euros to promote 
Eurofighters refused to answer questions at the parliamentary 
inquiry looking into the purchase of the planes. Committee members 
said Rumpold may face a fine similar to that imposed by a court on a 
lobbyist for the Eurofighter manufacturer EADS, who also refused to 
testify. The inquiry seeks to learn what happened to the rest of the 
6.6 million Euros, as only 2 million went into advertising, reports 
ORF TV's prime time news Zeit im Bild I on Thursday. 
 
 
SPOe Meeting 
 
¶2. At the meeting of the Social Democrats' cabinet members in Vienna 
yesterday, Chancellor and SPOe party boss Alfred Gusenbauer spoke 
out against giving skilled workers from Eastern European countries 
easy access to the Austrian job market, thus dismissing a proposal 
by Economics Minister Martin Bartenstein (OeVP), who suggested 
bringing in foreign workers to counter labor shortages in industry. 
For Gusenbauer, however, this is the "wrong way." He proposed 
training these skilled workers in Austria instead, according to ORF 
online news. 
 
 
UN Boss in Vienna 
 
¶3. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, speaking in Vienna 
yesterday, said he was deeply concerned by the international 
community's conflict with Iran and its nuclear program. He made the 
remarks during a press conference with Austrian Foreign Minister 
Ursula Plassnik. In an interview with an Austrian daily, the UN 
Secretary General underscored Iran must comply with UN resolutions 
 
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as soon as possible. 
 
Speaking in Vienna, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon told 
semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung that it is "indeed, highly 
regrettable that ultimately Iran failed to comply with the Security 
Council resolution. I am deeply concerned. The way this dispute is 
developing is very unfortunate. The government in Tehran should 
strive for a better future for the Iranian people." Ban Ki Moon is 
visiting the IAEA and meeting with Director General Mohammed 
ElBaradei during his two-day visit to Vienna. He is also meeting 
with the head of the UN's Vienna office, Antonio Maria Costa. On 
Thursday, in addition to the Foreign Minister, the UN chief held 
talks with Austrian President Heinz Fischer, Chancellor Alfred 
Gusenbauer and Parliamentary President Barbara Prammer. 
 
In an interview with centrist daily Die Presse, Ban Ki Moon 
criticized Iran's defiance of the UN in the dispute over its nuclear 
ambitions. He repeated he is "deeply concerned" over Iran's stance 
and the fact that Tehran has chosen to "ignore international calls 
to suspend uranium enrichment. Iran should have convinced the world 
that its right to use nuclear power is indeed motivated by peaceful 
purposes. The country should have completed the entire IAEA 
verification process, but failed to do so. Now, the IAEA report will 
be referred to the UN Security Council. It is up to the Council to 
decide which measures to take." 
 
Talking to liberal daily Der Standard, the UN Secretary General 
urged the "Iranian leadership to launch negotiations now on how the 
dispute can be resolved, even before the UN Security Council takes 
further measures. A tightening of the sanctions would be 
deplorable." He added that he will have to "discuss the issue with 
the Security Council. And whatever initiatives they propose, I'm 
prepared to follow up on them." 
 
 
Bid to Ban Cluster Bombs Begins 
 
¶4. The Austrian government has banned the use of cluster bombs by 
its armed forces. The ban came ahead of a 48-nation meeting called 
by Norway to try to stop the use of such bombs. The Oslo meeting 
began Thursday without the US, Russia and China, after arms talks in 
Geneva last November failed to achieve progress toward a ban. Norway 
says it wants the weapons to be outlawed by 2008, but as they are 
considered an effective military tool, a ban on cluster bombs is 
unlikely. Nevertheless, Austria has offered to host a follow up 
conference to the Oslo meeting this fall, says ORF radio. 
 
 
Iran Defies UN 
 
 
 
¶5. The standoff between the United Nations and Iran over Iran's 
nuclear program has entered a new phase: A report by the 
International Atomic Energy Agency said Tehran failed to meet a 
February 21 deadline to suspend uranium enrichment. 
The report also says Iran is expanding its program, defying a UN 
resolution of December 2006. For its part, Iran said the UN call for 
it to stop its nuclear program was "unacceptable" and had no legal 
basis. Permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany will 
meet in London Monday to discuss further sanctions against Iran. On 
ORF radio, UQassador to UNVIE Gregory Schulte outlined the US 
strategy on Iran: "Our goal is to convince the leadership in Tehran 
to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions." 
Speaking on ORF radio's early morning news Morgenjournal, US 
Ambassador to UNVIE Gregory Schulte explained the US wants to 
convince Tehran to give up its nuclear weapons ambitions: "We are 
mounting a major diplomatic effort, not on our own, but 
multilaterally, with the countries of Europe, with Russia, with 
China. We're trying to convince the leadership in Tehran to change 
course." 
Like all Austrian media, centrist daily Die Presse reports on the 
"saber rattling in the Persian Gulf." With a second US aircraft 
carrier having arrived in the region, military pressure is mounting, 
the daily says, and adds that military experts see this as a sign 
the White House is prepared for escalation in the conflict with 
Iran. However, America's tough stance is also to support the 
increasingly hectic diplomatic efforts to get Iran to suspend its 
uranium enrichment program. So far, the US has not made a political 
decision in favor of a military confrontation with Iran. Leaking 
alleged deployment plans and attack scenarios is part of 
Washington's escalation strategy aimed both at browbeating Iran into 
compliance and sending a message to Russia, China, and America's 
European allies, the Presse suggests. 
 
 
US Influence on EU Foreign Policy 
 
¶6. The deputy head of the EU Social Democrats, Austrian MEP Hannes 
Swoboda, says "the Americans are influencing EU foreign policy to an 
ever greater extent." Swoboda is irritated that the political 
positions of the EU and the US on the issue of a missile defense 
shield in Europe have not been coordinated. 
The deputy head of the EU Social Democrats, Austrian MEP Hannes 
Swoboda, told mass-circulation daily Kurier he considers the US 
decision to establish the missile defense system in Poland and the 
Czech Republic a "unilateral move on the part of the Americans." The 
issue is being debated in the (Social Democrats') EU foreign policy 
committee, Swoboda said, stressing that the Americans' "actions in 
member states is not in the EU's interests. The US is influencing 
the EU's foreign policy to an ever-greater extent." The absence of 
US and EU coordination on missile defense policies is equally 
irritating: "This is a go-it-alone operation by the US." Another 
issue demonstrating how the EU is being "steamrollered" by the US is 
the nuclear row with Iran, Swoboda explains: "The dispute is driving 
the (EU) member states into the Americans' arms, including neutral 
Austria" which could involve Austria directly or indirectly in a 
conflict; a role incompatible with that of a neutral state, the MEP 
says.  Swoboda is calling for an open debate of such issues in 
Austria, and urges Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik to officially 
state Austria's misgivings regarding the US missile defense plans 
with her EU colleagues. 
 
 
US Soldier Sentenced to Jail Term 
 
¶7. A US soldier who served in Iraq has been sentenced to one hundred 
years in a military detention facility. 24-year-old Sgt. Paul E. 
Cortez pled guilty to the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi 
girl and to killing her family. He also received a dishonorable 
discharge under a plea agreement with prosecutors, ORF radio early 
morning news Morgenjournal reports. 
 
 
Coalition Partners BaQProdi 
 
¶8. In Italy, party leaders from the center-left coalition have 
agreed to support Romano Prodi's bid to stay on as Prime Minister. 
The apparent agreement came a day after Prodi resigned when he lost 
a key Senate vote on his foreign policy.  Several of his coalition 
partners had opposed Italian troop deployments in Afghanistan and 
his plans to expand a US air base in Italy, writes ORF online news. 
 
McCaw