VZCZCXYZ0020
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHVI #1218/01 1301339
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101339Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7256
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/WHITEHOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS VIENNA 001218 
 
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: OPRC KPAO AU
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: May 10, 2007 
 
Next Round of Hearings on the Eurofighter 
 
¶1. The parliamentary investigative committee looking into the 
purchase of Eurofighter jets for Austria's armed forces will hold 
the next round of hearings today.  A key figure in the affair is due 
to appear before the committee: Erhard Steininger, a lobbyist for 
the EADS consortium, who has been accused of offering kickbacks and 
bribes during the public tender process.  Steininger's lawyer 
stressed that his client may refuse to answer the parliamentary 
inquiry's questions. 
In an interview with mass-circulation daily Kurier, Erhard 
Steininger, lobbyist for Eurofighter manufacturer EADS, dismissed 
calls by SPOe, Greens and FPOe members of the parliamentary 
investigative committee to be given access to his tax files, 
stressing that such a move "would be a violation of my rights." 
Regarding claims of bribery in connection with his payment of 87,000 
Euros to the wife of Austrian "airchief" Eric Wolf, Steininger 
argues that "it must be permissible for a businessman to help a 
friend financially.  Besides, the whole thing occurred half a year 
after the decision in favor of the Eurofighter." The lobbyist 
declined to comment on details regarding the nature of his work for 
EADS, citing a "confidentiality clause, which is part of my contract 
as consultant for EADS."  He downplayed his role as EADS consultant, 
saying he "played the part of scout once, and sometimes of mailman." 
 Steininger also refused to comment on how much of EADS' money he 
had spent in Austria in connection with the Eurofighter deal. 
 
 
Not the Time for Business as Usual 
 
¶2. ... headlined a leading Austria daily on Wednesday, publishing a 
guest commentary by US Ambassador to Austria Susan McCaw on the 
United States' concerns over Austrian OMV's planned gas deal with 
Iran. 
In a guest commentary published in centrist daily Die Presse on 
Wednesday, US Ambassador to Austria Susan McCaw says reports that 
OMV's plans for a large-scale investment in Iran's natural gas 
sector are "indeed a matter of concern to the US Government."  The 
issue is being debated in the public media, and "there is 
considerable misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the position 
of the United States on this issue," the Ambassador states.  She 
explains: "The United States naturally has no objection to Austria's 
and Europe's interests in diversifying the sources of their energy 
supply.  Diversification, in fact, is a pillar of President Bush's 
energy strategy." However, the Ambassador argues, part of any 
"strategic planning must include political realities," and nowhere 
are those issues more important "than in the international 
community's dealings with Iran," whose "government has publicly 
denied the Holocaust, pledged itself to the annihilation of the 
state of Israel, and refused to demonstrate that it is not seeking 
nuclear weapons."  In addition, Tehran "continues to support 
terrorist activities, fails to grant Iran's citizens their basic 
freedoms, and has been unhelpful in international efforts to bring 
stability to regional neighbors such as Iraq and Lebanon." The US, 
the EU and the UN have "well-founded concerns over Iran's apparent 
pursuit of nuclear weapons," and the "common approach to the regime 
includes the incentive of increased economic engagement with Iran - 
if Tehran agrees to suspend its enrichment-related and reprocessing 
activities.  If Iran can receive the same kind of economic 
cooperation without taking any positive steps, it undermines the 
effect of this incentive, leaving us with fewer - and more 
confrontational - options for trying to convince Iran to work with 
us constructively," Ambassador McCaw warns.  Besides, she continues, 
"in securing this deal with OMV, the Iranian regime was able to play 
the US off against Europe, just as trans-Atlantic cooperation to 
tighten sanctions had begun to bear fruit," and at a time "when 
nations should recognize their common interests."  Ultimately, OMV 
must make its own decision, the Ambassador says, emphasizing, 
however, that "now is not the time for business as usual with Iran." 
 
 
 
Ambassador Meets University Students 
 
¶3. The Austrian Press Agency reports that US Ambassador to Austria 
Susan McCaw visited the IMC University of Applied Management 
Sciences in Krems, Lower Austria, on Wednesday, where she met with 
students and gave a lecture on US foreign policy. 
Austrian Press Agency APA reported on a May 9 visit by US Ambassador 
to Austria Susan McCaw to the IMC University of Applied Management 
Sciences in Krems, where she met with students and talked about US 
foreign policy as part of the "Export Experts" lecture series for 
the IMC's English-language program "Export-Oriented Management." 
Following her lecture, the Ambassador discussed key topics of 
international politics with the students, who "are very proud to 
welcome Ambassador McCaw to the IMC Krems," APA writes, quoting one 
of the university professors, who also praised the "highly 
interesting lecture," and the "opportunity for the students to ask 
the Ambassador a lot of questions." APA also notes that Ambassador 
McCaw was "very impressed with the extent and the quality of the 
questions put to her," and promised to visit the IMC Krems again 
soon. 
 
 
Interview with the Pentagon's Fata 
 
¶4. A leading Austrian daily published an interview with Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Defense Daniel Fata. The Pentagon 
representative explained US plans for a missile defense shield in 
Eastern Europe, when he was in Vienna last month trying to enlist 
support for the US system.  He dismissed Russia's criticism of 
Washington's plans, emphasizing that in his view there will be no 
veto from Moscow on the issue. 
In an interview with centrist daily Die Presse, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary of Defense Daniel P. Fata dismissed Russia's criticism of 
 
SIPDIS 
the planned US missile defense system in Eastern Europe, saying that 
"not only for the US, but for Russia, too, Iran poses a threat with 
its nuclear ambitions and its missile program.  The Russians 
confirmed this during Defense Secretary Robert Gates' visit to 
Moscow."  Fata is convinced there will be "no veto form Moscow 
against the US system." Fata adds that "since the NATO meeting of 
April 19, there has been a change of views (on the part of Russia)." 
All NATO partners "are agreed that the missile threat exists, that 
Iran is a genuine threat, and that the US missile defense system 
would be a suitable, far-reaching system, which could complement the 
European plans for a defense system against short- and medium-range 
missiles." However, the defense shield cannot be realized within the 
framework of NATO, because the Alliance is "working on its own 
system," because the US "is paying for the missile shield in Eastern 
Europe out of its own pocket," and given NATO structures, it would 
take several years to respond to current threats, but "these days we 
don't have the time today." 
 
 
Austria Concerned Over Slovak Reactor 
 
¶5. Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer said that he expects 
Slovakia to provide "appropriate information" on its plans to 
enlarge the nuclear power plant at Mochovce.  Speaking after an 
official visit to Vienna by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, the 
Austrian Chancellor stressed his country's long-standing 
anti-nuclear position and said if the plans went ahead Austria would 
expect "maximum safety."  Mochovce is a Soviet designed nuclear 
power station that Slovakia wants to double in capacity. 
Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung reports on Austria's critical 
position regarding the Slovak nuclear power plant at Mochovce, 
saying that Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer raised the issue during an 
official visit to Vienna by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. Fico, 
from the left-wing Smer party, was making his first visit to Austria 
since taking office ten months ago. Transport and infrastructure 
issues were at the center of talks with Austrian political leaders. 
Austria has been concerned about the use of nuclear power by 
neighboring countries in recent years. Aside from Austrian concerns 
over the safety of the Mochovce reactor, the Temelin nuclear power 
plant in the Czech Republic has been a bone of contention between 
the two countries and border blockades often take place. The Czech 
Republic says the reactor is safe, but Austria says it has many 
failings, the Wiener Zeitung writes. 
 
 
Tough Tones between Washington and Vienna 
 
¶6. Reporting on US criticism over Austrian energy provider OMV's 
planned deal with Iran and the controversy over bank Bawag's Cuban 
accounts, a mass-circulation daily suggests that "Between Washington 
and Vienna the tone is getting more acid." 
"Disturbances in the Line to Washington," headlines foreign editor 
Livia Kling for mass-circulation daily Kurier when commenting on US 
criticism over Austrian energy provider OMV's planned deal with 
Iran. Officially, only a meager statement by an unnamed high-ranking 
US Embassy diplomat was offered, saying that the US "has not taken 
any position on Austria's candidacy for the Security Council."  In 
reality, the US is "furious with Austria," and "believes Austria is 
adding fuel to the fire," according to Klingl. 
And now, US Ambassador Susan McCaw, in a guest commentary for Die 
Presse, has harshly criticized the OMV, calling the OMV deal a 
"matter of concern" in the eyes of the US.  It has put the Iranian 
regime in a position to "play the US off against Europe," argues 
McCaw, thus hinting at a possible deterioration of transatlantic 
relations, Klingl quotes from the Ambassador's op-ed.  Austrian 
Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, on the other hand, finds such a 
connection between the gas deal and the bid for the UN Security 
Council to be bizarre, and confirms that Austria's Iran policy is 
fully in tune with that of the UN. The OMV shares this view. The 
foreign editor argues that "what the US presents as morally correct 
politics is in reality power politics. In the Gulf States, which 
Plassnik recently toured, it is common knowledge that the US wants 
to control the region, as much because of its resources as its 
strategic geographic location. In the international competition for 
oil and gas in the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea, the US does not 
have many trump cards, but instead a miserable image." 
 
 
Clinton to Visit Vienna 
 
¶7. Former US President Bill Clinton is to be the guest of honor at 
the AIDS Life charity gala in Vienna's Schoenbrunn Palace on May 24. 
 Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer said that he will present the former 
President with a one-million-dollar donation from Austria to the 
HIV/AIDS initiative run by the William J. Clinton Foundation. 
Clinton is also scheduled to attend a Concert for Europe at the 
Vienna Philharmonic, writes centrist daily Die Presse. 
 
 
Blair to Announce Resignation Plans 
 
¶8. British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to announce his 
resignation plans later today. His office has confirmed he will 
brief the cabinet this morning, and later make a public speech. 
According to the BBC, Blair's announcement that he is stepping down 
as leader of the Labour Party will "immediately trigger a contests 
for a successor." Chancellor Gordon Brown is regarded as the 
principal contender to succeed Blair. 
Like all Austrian media, centrist daily Die Presse reports on 
British Premier Tony Blair's expected announcement of his 
resignation plans, and on the chances of Chancellor Gordon Brown to 
take over, and describes upcoming event as a British "choreography 
of a change of power." The daily points out the challenges facing 
Brown at "this historic low point" for the Labour Party, and 
suggests he "hardly stands a chance." He will have to "brush up his 
image, in particular. A booming economy will not win him votes," and 
on top of that "there's no love lost between Labour and Brown, 
either." Nonetheless, it would be "premature to write the Chancellor 
off already," the Presse believes: "Now that he has reached his 
life's goal, he will fight all the harder." The daily also comments 
on Tony Blair, and his "drawn-out goodbye." His stepping down will 
end a "long, agonizing process of self- destruction." Still, even 
though the Iraqi war and his painfully slow resignation are 
overshadowing his term of office, it would be wrong to see the ten 
years of his prime-ministership from that particular angle only, the 
daily suggests. Blair has "modernized the country," and "his 
government was among the first to face globalization and perceive it 
as an opportunity." It is no coincidence that although 69 percent of 
the British people believe the Iraq war will be the decisive factor 
of Blair's legacy, at the same time 61 percent say he was a good 
Prime Minister. 
 
 
Cheney on Mideast Tour 
 
¶9. US Vice-President Dick Cheney met with Iraq's political laders 
and army chiefs to discuss security and poitical reconciliation in 
Iraq. Cheney said his talks with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki 
focused on operations to curb violence in and around Baghdad.  The 
Vice-President's unannounced visit to Iraq is the first stop of his 
Middle East tour, which is aimed at enlisting support for the 
stabilization of Iraq.  It will take him to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, 
the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, centrist daily Die Presse says. 
 
McCaw