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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KPAO AU
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: May 11, 2007 
 
 
Eurofighter Is an Expensive Deal 
 
¶1. Even if Austria cancels the contract to purchase 18 Eurofighters 
from the EADS consortium, the jets will have still cost the country 
a considerable amount of money. So far, about 200 million Euros have 
gone into preparations for the interceptors and most of it cannot be 
refunded, experts explained. 
Reporting on the expenses Austria has already incurred in connection 
with the Eurofighter deal, ORF radio early morning news 
Morgenjournal said that the country can expect to lose up to 200 
million Euros, even if it backs out of the purchase deal: The money 
has been spent on personnel, a variety of adaptations and logistics 
in order to prepare for the jets, experts from the Defense 
Ministry's Audit Office explained. In addition, according to OeVP 
estimates, the legal proceedings for a potential cancellation of the 
deal would cost up to 120 million Euros. 
Commenting on EADS lobbyist Erhard Steininger's statement before the 
parliamentary investigative committee that he had been no more than 
the Eurofighter manufacturer's "scout and mailman," mass-circulation 
tabloid Kronen Zeitung suggests that Steininger "has been walking 
all over the committee." His appearance before the parliamentary 
inquiry yesterday was "preposterous, and a farce," the daily 
complains. 
Meanwhile, independent provincial daily Salzburger Nachrichten 
describes the seven most glaring "inconsistencies" the Eurofighter 
committee has come across in its investigation. 
 
 
Magna Bid for Chrysler Confirmed 
 
¶2. Austro-Canadian businessman Frank Stronach announced that Russian 
Machines, a company controlled by Russian billionaire Oleg 
Deripaska, is to invest over one billion Euros in Magna 
International. 
Like all Austrian media, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung reports 
that the Magna Corporation has officially confirmed its interest in 
buying the financially troubled US car-maker Chrysler. Magna founder 
Frank Stronach made the announcement in Toronto on Wednesday. 
Meanwhile, a company controlled by Russian billionaire Oleg 
Deripaska is to invest about 1.14 billion Euros in Magna 
International -- the Canadian vehicle parts and assembly company. 
Deripaska's company, Russian Machines, will indirectly buy 20 
million shares of Magna, the daily said. Magna also makes vehicles 
for Chrysler at its Austrian plant near Graz, and has over 80,000 
employees all over the world. According to Stronach, the investment 
by Deripaska would accelerate Magna's strategic efforts to 
capitalize on growth opportunities in Russia and other markets. 
 
 
Greens: Strache Should Resign 
 
¶3. The Greens have called on Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian 
Strache to resign over remarks he made on Austrian television about 
the Nazi period.  During a commemoration ceremony for victims of the 
Nazi period, Strache claimed that people victimized after 1945 have 
been forgotten. He also said that the Allies had committed 
deliberate crimes during their ten-year post-war occupation of 
Austria. Greens deputy leader Madeleine Petrovic underscored it was 
unacceptable to equate in any way the Nazi period with the era 
afterwards, the Wiener Zeitung wrote. 
 
 
Blair Steps Down On June 27 
 
¶4. British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced that he will step 
down on June 27 after ten years in office. Following the 
announcement, he received praise from his international allies, 
including US President George Bush, who said Blair was a man of 
integrity and vision. ORF radio quotes the US President as saying 
the outgoing British Premier "is a political figure who is capable 
of thinking over the horizon. He is a long-term thinker, and I have 
found him to be a man who has kept his word." 
All Austrian media report on British Premier Tony Blair's 
announcement yesterday that he will resign in late June. ORF radio 
early morning news Morgnejournal quotes US President George Bush, 
who emphasized his friendship with Blair.  He described Blair as a 
"man who kept his word, which sometimes is rare in political 
circles." Bush added that he is also looking forward to meeting his 
successor. In Britain, however, Blair's legacy is seen in a more 
critical light. The leader of the main opposition party, 
Conservative David Cameron, spoke of a "decade of dashed hopes and 
big disappointments." Today, Blair is scheduled to meet with the 
newly-elected French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris. Meanwhile, 
in the UK, Chancellor Gordon Brown, who is widely regarded as 
Blair's likely successor, is set to officially launch his bid for 
the Labour Party leadership today. 
Austrian commentators agree that despite his achievements, Blair 
will be remembered for his decision to support the US-led Iraq 
invasion of Iraq. Foreign affairs writer Konrad Kramar suggested in 
mass-circulation daily Kurier that while "many of Blair's reforms 
were a genuine success," he ended up as a "man propelled by his 
superstar-image." Ultimately, the outgoing Premier "will not be 
measured by his greatest successes, but by his most glaring mistake: 
The Iraq war." 
Likewise, deputy chief editor Viktor Hermann argued in the 
independent provincial daily Salzburger Nachrichten that no doubt, 
Tony Blair "has left his mark on Britain." Herman described the 
Labour Party's achievements under Blair, particularly the recent 
developments in Northern Ireland, but concludes: "Still, the British 
are unlikely to ever forget that Blair led their country into war 
for all the wrong reasons, a war that cannot be won and will be 
difficult to end." 
 
 
US House Passes Iraq Bill 
 
¶5. The US House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday that 
would fund military operations in Iraq until the end of July. Under 
the bill, further funding would depend on Iraq meeting certain - as 
yet undefined - benchmarks of progress. President George Bush said 
he would veto the legislation, as he did on an earlier occasion with 
a bill linking funding to troop withdrawal, according to liberal 
daily Der Standard. 
 
 
Power Struggle in Iran 
 
¶6. The power struggle in Tehran between President Mahmoud 
Ahmadinejad and the pragmatic former Iranian leader Ali Akbar 
Hashemi Rafsanjani appears to have amplified recently the Austrian 
daily reported. 
Reporting on the ongoing power struggle between Iranian leader 
Ahmadinejad and former President Rafsanjani, liberal daily Der 
Standard said that recent developments including the release from 
prison of Hossein Mossavian, a critic of the President's nuclear 
policy, must be considered "defeats for Ahmadinejad." In addition, 
the former Iranian Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Valayati, has been 
appointed the country's new Vice-President. This is likely to curb 
Ahmadinejad's power even further, particularly with regard to Iran's 
foreign policy course, the daily believes. The daily's foreign 
editor Gudrun Harrer commented: "For months, the world has been 
waiting for a sign of pragmatism from Tehran - so far to no avail. 
Lately, the general impression has been that Iranian foreign policy 
is not so much about the country's communication with the rest of 
the world, but rather reflects events inside Iran, which - for the 
sake of simplicity - may be described as a contest between Mahmoud 
Ahmadinejad and Ali Akbar Rafsanjani. ... Still, the match is not 
yet decided. Besides, there seems little reason for cheer, given 
that the hopes for Iran's future should be pinned on people like 
Rafsanjani or the controversial ex-foreign minister Ali Akbar 
Velayati." 
 
 
Turkish Mps Back Reform Package 
 
¶7. Turkey's Parliament approved a major constitutional amendment 
that allows the president to be elected by the people rather than 
the MPs. More than two-thirds of the MPs backed the amendment and 
several other reforms, proposed by the governing AK Party. The vote 
came after MPs had failed to elect the AKP's presidential candidate, 
Abdullah Gul, because Turkish secularists suspect the AKP has an 
Islamist agenda. However, the country's President, Ahmet Necdet 
Sezer, said he may veto the reform package, liberal daily Der 
Standard reported. 
McCaw