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P 281436Z MAR 07
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KPAO AU OPRC
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: March 28, 2007 
 
 
PR Firm Defends Eurofighter Spending 
 
¶1. Gernot and Erika Rumpold, owners of the public relations firm 
which has been in charge of promoting the Eurofighter, told the 
parliamentary committee looking into the interceptor purchase deal 
that it was "not uncommon" for a press conference to cost 96,000 
Euros, which the committee has called "outrageous."  Besides the 
press conference, Rumpold said she spent 200,000 Euros to open an 
office, 120,000 Euros to speak to provincial governors, 320,000 
Euros to promote the plane around the time of the Formula 1 Grand 
Prix in Spielberg in 2002 and 340,000 Euros for a security 
conference with special speakers and a panel discussion. 
Like all Austrian media reporting on the Eurofighter investigative 
committee's work, independent provincial daily Salzburger 
Nachrichten writes that Erika Rumpold "claimed extensive memory 
gaps" during her second interview by the committee on Tuesday. In 
addition, she denied all allegations she had made out fake invoices, 
and rejected suspicions of illegal cash flows to the FPOe and the 
BZOe. 
 
 
Government to Pass Double Budget 
 
¶2. At the Council of Ministers today, the SPOe-OeVP coalition will 
pass the double budget for 2007/2008. Details of the budget package 
such as the distribution of funds among the ministries, as well as 
the projected budget deficit, will not be disclosed until Finance 
Minister Wilhelm Molterer holds his budget address in Parliament 
tomorrow. 
Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung writes that ahead of the 
publication of the official figures, opposition Greens leader 
Alexander Van der Bellen has stated his concern that Finance 
Minister Wilhelm Molterer is going to present a "retro-budget." On 
Tuesday, Van der Bellen criticized the SPOe-OeVP coalition of 
"continuing the course of the OeVP-FPOe-BZOe government." The Greens 
leader also emphasized he wants more money to be allocated for 
climate protection and education issues. 
 
 
Schwarzenberg Backs US Missile Defense System 
 
¶3. On the occasion of his visit to Vienna earlier this week, Czech 
Foreign Minister Karl Schwarzenberg defended the planned US missile 
defense system, which is to be set up partly on Czech territory. 
In a front-page report, liberal daily Der Standard on March 27 
reports that Schwarzenberg told his Austrian counterpart Ursula 
Plassnik that he does not believe the US plans for a European 
missile defense shield will create a rift within the European Union. 
The system was a "preventive measure, which will cover large parts 
of Europe." Defending the US project, Schwarzenberg suggested that 
"Europeans tend to forget sometimes that the US is a member of 
NATO." The Czech Foreign Minister, who was in Vienna for his first 
bilateral meeting with Plassnik, had earlier criticized his 
colleague on the issue, stressing that neutral countries like 
Austria certainly had the right to voice their criticism at any 
time, but they were "naturally not part of internal NATO 
discussions," the Standard notes. Similarly, centrist daily Die 
Presse reports on Tuesday that for security reasons Prague is open 
to US suggestions to put up radar systems on Czech territory. "Only 
the US could give security-relevant guarantees these days," 
Schwarzenberg aruges, and goes on to underscore how significant a 
deepening of the transatlantic relations is for Prague. 
In an interview published by liberal daily Der Standard today, 
Schwarzenberg reiterated his stance on missile defense: "I am 
convinced missile defense will contribute to US and European 
security. We can only guess when certain countries will be in a 
position to build long-range missiles, and we should be prepared." 
Russia's opposition to the US defense plans was "probably an attempt 
by Vladimir Putin to test how far solidarity between Europe and the 
US really goes," Schwarzenberg suggests. Also, Moscow appears to 
assume that it still has a right to raise objections where former 
Eastern Block states are concerned," the Foreign Minister explains. 
 
 
 
The Treadmill of Mideast Diplomacy 
 
¶4. ... headlines an Austrian daily, reporting on "sudden hectic 
diplomatic activity on the part of the US aimed at solving the 
Middle East conflict." A peace plan presented by the Arab League, 
which has the backing of the Palestinians, could pave the way 
towards reaching that goal. At this point, however, it "remains to 
be seen whether these latest efforts will lead to a breakthrough or 
 
end in disappointment." 
Centrist daily Die Presse in a front-page feature article reports on 
"renewed US efforts in the Middle East: Secretary of State Rice has 
asked Israel's Prime Minister and the Palestinian President to 
commit themselves to regular meetings. "After years of a deadly 
standstill, a new dynamic of peace can be felt in the region," the 
Presse says. Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas are to meet every other 
week, in order to establish a basis of trust. This arrangement is 
the "first tangible result of the shuttle diplomacy Rice has 
started," and could give new impetus to an Arab League initiative of 
2002, which proposes that Arab nations recognize Israel if Israel 
withdraws from land occupied in the 1967 war. However, there are 
still many obstacles in the way of lasting Middle East peace, 
including Hamas' position in the Palestinian government; the right 
of Palestinian refugees to return; the weakness of the Olmert 
government in Israel; the West Bank settlements; Israeli and 
Palestinian claims to Jerusalem; Syria's claim to the Golan Heights; 
and the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Presse notes. 
 
 
Senate Votes for Iraq Deadline 
 
¶5. The US Senate has endorsed a March 2008 target date for 
withdrawing American troops from Iraq. It has also narrowly rejected 
an attempt to remove the date from a bill providing funding for the 
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Austrian media comment that this is 
another setback for President Bush, who has vowed to veto bills 
containing a timetable for a pullout. 
ORF radio early morning news Morgenjournal quotes Senator Chuck 
Hagel, one of the two Senate Republicans backing the deadline for a 
US troop withdrawal from Iraq, as asking, if the US is "making real 
progress in Iraq, why are we putting more and more American combat 
troops into Iraq, at the same time that our allies are leaving, or 
have already left? The President's strategy is taking America deeper 
and deeper into this quagmire with no exit strategy." Another 
Republican Senator Lindsay Graham, however, argued against the 
deadline, stressing that "whatever mistakes the Bush team has made, 
and there are many, Congress is about to make the greatest mistake 
of all. And that is to tell the enemy what they have to do to get us 
out of Iraq on their terms, not ours," ORF radio quotes. ORF online 
news, also reporting on the issue, suggests the Senate vote is a 
"symbolic victory for the Democrats." 
 
 
Blair Urging Sailors' Release 
 
¶6. Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned Iran of what he 
described as a "different phase" if Tehran does not free fifteen 
British military personnel detained in the Gulf last week. It is 
believed the British government plans to release photographic 
evidence that the sailors were not in Iranian waters. 
Kilner