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SIPDIS 
 
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TAGS: OPRC KPAO AU
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: April 18, 2007 
 
 
ANGER OVER BAWAG CLOSURE OF ACCOUNTS 
Many Austrian politicians are calling on the government to withdraw 
all state business from bank Bawag after it closed accounts owned by 
people from Cuba. 
The bank is in the process of being handed over to its new owner, US 
investor Cerberus. Director General Ewald Nowotny has said the bank 
was forced to close the accounts to comply with a US embargo on 
business with Cuba, or lose the sale. Bawag is the main banker for 
the Austrian state, bringing it around five billion Euros worth of 
transactions a year, but the Austrian Finance Ministry has said it 
is not considering withdrawing its business from Bawag at the 
moment. [Wiener Zeitung] 
 
EUROFIGHTER TO DRAW UP OWN ASSESSMENT 
Eurofighter producer EADS has announced that in view of Austrian 
deliberations on a potential cancellation of the deal it is having 
its own expert opinion prepared on the planned sale of 18 of its 
interceptors to the Republic of Austria. Speaking on ORF television 
yesterday, Eurofighter boss Aloysius Rauen has also threatened the 
company would take legal action should Austria back out of the 
purchase agreement. He also dismissed suggestions Austria could buy 
fewer than 18 interceptor jets, according to Austrian media. [ORF 
TV's domestic news program Report] 
 
 
EUROPEAN UNION 
 
TURKEY WANTS TO BE FIT FOR EU IN 2014 
Several Austrian media report that Turkey wants to get ready for EU 
membership by 
2014 with a package of reform measures. Presenting the program 
developed by Ankara, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and 
Turkish EU negotiator Ali Babacan emphasized the planned measures 
would have a direct impact on the Turkish people's everyday lives. 
The far-reaching program is the result of months of cooperation of 
Turkish ministries, government offices and independent 
organizations, they explained. [ORF online news] 
 
 
DOMESTIC/INTERNATIONAL 
 
INTERVIEW WITH US TERROR EXPERT RAPHAEL PERL 
US terrorism expert Raphael Perl told journalists in a PAS-arranged 
press briefing on Tuesday that terrorism will likely be used 
increasingly in the future as a "tactics" or method to reach certain 
goals by spreading fear. Raphael Perl is a leading terrorism analyst 
for the "Congressional Research Service" in Washington, and is 
currently in Austria on a lecture tour. [Der Standard; other 
Austrian media] 
 
 
INTERNATIONAL 
 
AUTHORITIES LOOKING INTO BLACKSBURG SHOOTING 
The authorities investigating the shooting at the campus of Virginia 
Tech University in which 32 people were killed have identified the 
shooter as Cho Seung-hui, a 23-year-old student from South Korea. 
Police say the man who killed himself after the shooting spree 
likely acted alone. US President George Bush addressed a memorial 
service for the victims, saying it was "a day of sadness for our 
entire nation." Fellow students have described Seung-hui as "loner," 
Austrian media report, adding that rumors of an angry letter by the 
shooter containing explanations of his actions have not been 
confirmed. [all Austrian media] 
 
MEDIA REACTIONS ON VIRGINIA TECH TRAGEDY 
Austrian media commentaries generally tend to focus on the question 
whether or not the liberal US weapons laws were a major factor in 
the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech. 
 
 
KEY AUSTRIAN MEDIA ONLINE 
 
 
Domestic 
 
Anger Over Bawag Closure of Accounts 
 
¶1. Many Austrian politicians are calling on the government to 
withdraw all state business from bank Bawag after it closed accounts 
owned by people from Cuba. 
The bank is in the process of being handed over to its new owner, US 
investor Cerberus. Director General Ewald Nowotny has said the bank 
was forced to close the accounts to comply with a US embargo on 
business with Cuba, or lose the sale. Bawag is the main banker for 
the Austrian state, bringing it around five billion Euros worth of 
transactions a year, but the Austrian Finance Ministry has said it 
is not considering withdrawing its business from Bawag at the 
moment. 
In an interview with independent daily "Der Standard," the boss of 
the Austrian Trade Union OeGB Rudolf Hundstorfer likewise argues 
that the sale of Bawag to Cerberus would not have been possible 
without closing the Cuban accounts, but criticizes the way in which 
this was done as "catastrophic." "Such a decision cannot simply be 
executed, especially since the bankers would have had another four 
weeks to do so." Other than that, Hundstorfer has no problem with 
the public outrage:  True, the Americans have stipulated special 
conditions and we defer to those in other cases, too." In this 
context, he refers to the American view on how to fight 
money-laundering. His conclusion is that Bawag simply has to get 
through this "Cuban crisis." 
 
Eurofighter To Draw Up Own Assessment 
 
¶2. Eurofighter producer EADS has announced that in view of Austrian 
deliberations on a potential cancellation of the deal it is having 
its own expert opinion prepared on the planned sale of 18 of its 
interceptors to the Republic of Austria. Speaking on ORF television 
yesterday, Eurofighter boss Aloysius Rauen has also threatened the 
company would take legal action should Austria back out of the 
purchase agreement. He also dismissed suggestions Austria could buy 
fewer than 18 interceptor jets, according to Austrian media. 
However, Rauen did confirm that options to reduce the costs of the 
Eurofighter jets were being explored, writes independent daily "Der 
Standard." In the meantime, Minister of Finance Wilhelm Molterer has 
decided that the Eurofighter committee will not be granted access to 
the entire document that deals with EADS lobbyist Erhard 
Steininger's role in the purchase of the jets. Molterer's reasoning 
that secrecy had to be guaranteed and the rights of third parties 
respected does not convince the chairman of the Eurofighter 
committee Peter Pilz. Centrist daily "Die Presse" quotes Pilz as 
saying that this was an attempt on the part of Molterer "to sabotage 
the work of the committee." This procedure was "illegal" and an 
"affront" against parliament. Pilz is considering summoning Molterer 
to appear before the committee. On Wednesday, some crucial 
testimonies will be made before the committee, among others by the 
Wolfs, who will have to explain why their company got 87,600 euros 
from lobbyist Steininger, who is at the same time a close friend of 
theirs. In the future, the legal prosecutor could become active in 
the Eurofighter issue, which is at present still at the 
parliamentary committee stage:  "Die Presse" reports on possible 
legal action taken against Erich Wolf, the former commander of the 
air force and against the Rumpold couple. 
 
Turkey Wants To Be Fit For EU In 2014 
 
¶3. Several Austrian media report that Turkey wants to get ready for 
EU membership by 
2014 with a package of reform measures. Presenting the program 
developed by Ankara, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and 
Turkish EU negotiator Ali Babacan emphasized the planned measures 
would have a direct impact on the Turkish people's everyday lives. 
The far-reaching program is the result of months of cooperation of 
Turkish ministries, government offices and independent 
organizations, they explained. 
 
Interview With US Terror Expert Raphael Perl 
 
¶4. US terrorism expert Raphael Perl told journalists in a 
PAS-arranged press briefing on Tuesday that terrorism will likely be 
used increasingly in the future as a "tactics" or method to reach 
certain goals by spreading fear. Raphael Perl is a leading terrorism 
analyst for the "Congressional Research Service" in Washington, and 
is currently in Austria on a lecture tour. 
According to the terror expert, it will be more important to 
concentrate on finding adequate answers to the threat which terror 
poses for society. The threatened democratic institutions have to be 
able to react in an appropriate way to terror attacks, especially 
since they will have to accept a kind of "coexistence with terror" 
in the future. Austrian Press Agency (APA) quotes Perl as saying 
that "we glorify terror by focusing on its possible causes," adding 
that "now the focus of international terrorism conferences is on the 
criminal nature of terror, the criminal act itself." Also, the 
terror expert pointed to a change in motivation behind terror 
attacks - away from political claims or the striving for media 
attention, and more towards causing serious damage to economic 
systems - for instance energy supply, transport and especially the 
shipping traffic. In this respect, he refers to the fact that the 
decision makers at al-Qaida are for the most part engineers and 
"engineers think according to systems." Likewise, he outlines a 
growing tendency towards anonymity in terror attacks, stating his 
concern that in the future, a planed attack would be difficult to 
distinguish from human failure. Therefore, the US had changed its 
anti-terror strategy since 2001:  Instead of focusing on the 
prevention of individual attacks, the capability of the democratic 
state to react to such attacks was considered to be the decisive 
factor. With regard to Austria, Perl sees the danger that the 
country is a "soft target" for terrorists:  "The more liberal a 
society, the easier it becomes for terrorists," he concluded, 
according to APA. Independent daily "Der Standard" reports on Perl's 
belief that democratic societies will have to accept a permanent 
conflict between the need for civil liberties and that for security. 
In case of a new vast attack on the US, its citizens would favor 
restrictions of their liberties: "70 percent have said that they 
value security over individual freedom, "Der Standard" quotes Perl 
as saying. 
 
 
 
Authorities Looking Into Blacksburg Shooting 
 
¶5. The authorities investigating the shooting at the campus of 
Virginia Tech University in which 32 people were killed have 
identified the shooter as Cho Seung-hui, a 23-year-old student from 
South Korea. Police say the man who killed himself after the 
shooting spree likely acted alone. US President George Bush 
addressed a memorial service for the victims, saying it was "a day 
of sadness for our entire nation." Fellow students have described 
Seung-hui as "loner," Austrian media report, adding that rumors of 
an angry letter by the shooter containing explanations of his 
actions have not been confirmed. 
All Austrian media give extensive coverage to the tragedy at 
Virginia Tech, giving details of the shooting and the situation on 
the campus after the massacre. The bloody deed has predictably 
triggered a discussion about its possible causes. Here, America's 
lax weapons laws are the central focus of the debate - independent 
daily "Salzburger Nachrichten" points out that in Virginia, the home 
of the world's most powerful weapons lobby, the National Rifle 
Association, 12-year old teenagers can already obtain a gun without 
being required to demonstrate that they have permission from their 
parents. This is one of the points criticized by the so-called 
"Brady Campaign" which argues for stricter weapons laws and has 
evaluated the regulations existing in various US states. Independent 
daily "Der Standard" headlines "Bush still favors free possession of 
weapons" pointing out that the President, for all his condemnation 
of the deed and expressions of regret and horror, has immediately 
defended the right of US citizens to own weapons. Likewise, 
Republican presidential candidate John McCain has spoken out in 
favor of this right, adding that "we have to make sure that this 
kind of weapons does not fall into the hands of bad people." The 
daily also refers to reactions in internet blogs which affirm the 
position of the NRA:  Many bloggers argue that the amok run only 
took on such monstrous dimensions because the victims were not 
armed. 
With regard to the renewed debate about the possession of weapons in 
the US, "Salzburger Nachrichten" also points to the EU debate about 
tightening the laws regulating private ownership of weapons, which 
has been going on for some time and is independent of the recent 
events in the US. 
 
Media Reactions on Virginia Tech Tragedy 
 
¶6. Austrian media commentaries generally tend to focus on the 
question whether or not the liberal US weapons laws were a major 
factor in the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech. 
Deputy chief editor for independent daily "Salzburger Nachrichten" 
Viktor Hermann points to the historic roots of the prevalent US 
belief in the power of the gun and draws parallels between the 
private use of violent means to settle conflicts and American 
foreign policy:  "America's society is comparatively young - it 
still contains much of the spirit of the settlers' violent 
land-grabbing conquest. The constitution of the US contains the 
right to the pursuit of personal happiness - but also the right to 
defend what one has achieved with the gun. Small wonder then that 
many distorted individuals come to the conclusion that they are 
entitled to take what they want and take revenge as they see fit. 
According to the interpretation of the US citizens, violence is a 
means to solve problems, especially since the state serves as a 
model in this respect. The death penalty is legal practice in many 
US states. The US government considers it its privilege to solve 
problems on the international scene by using troops. Often, parts of 
American society appear like a group of teenage thugs in the eyes of 
Europeans - self-righteous and prepared to use violence. And 
sometimes, even Washington's foreign policy conveys the same 
impression. This existential awareness of a society, together with 
its almost perversely liberal weapons laws makes for an explosive 
mix which will easily go off." 
Foreign editor for mass circulation daily "Kurier" Livia Klingl 
likewise refers to parallels between the prevalent atmosphere in 
society and individual behavior:  "In a society, though, which 
defines itself via - often imagined - enemies, which produces news 
broadcasts that are apt to trigger paranoia even in mentally stable 
individuals, a massacre at a university may be a shocking, but it is 
hardly a surprising occurrence. The children of people who glorify 
weapons and have perfected their ability to create enemy images as 
well as the respective computer games and TV broadcasts, live 
dangerously - not just in Iraq, but also at the universities." 
Commentator for centrist daily "Die Presse" Michael Pr|ller argues 
that new, stricter weapons laws are unlikely to have a preventive 
effect. While he acknowledges that   "it seems to be the case that 
America's lax laws as well as America's trigger-happy mentality are 
both the result of a violent everyday culture in the United States. 
Just that is also the argument of the weapons owners," he concludes 
that "we have to come to terms with the fact that our attempts to 
attribute guilt and calls for new laws do not help. We have to 
accept that such extremely rare, out of the blue manifestations of 
man's bad nature may be prevented in individual cases by sheer lucky 
coincidence in individual cases - but there is o way society can 
prevent such things from happening. We are helpless in our mourning, 
our horror - that is something we have to accept." 
Kilner