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SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/AGS, INR/EU, AND EUR/PPD FOR YVETTE SAINT-ANDRE 
 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KPAO AU
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: June 22, 2007 
 
 
12 Eurofighters Enough? 
 
¶1. As withdrawing from the purchase agreement apparently no longer 
seems realistic, a further reduction of the number of Eurofighter 
jets to be acquired is becoming increasingly likely, Austrian media 
say. According to a new strategy paper by the Austrian armed forces, 
twelve of the interceptors would suffice to guarantee Austrian 
airspace surveillance. 
Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung writes that the paper submitted 
by the Austrian armed forces suggesting 12 Eurofighters would be 
enough for Austrian airspace surveillance appears to be the last 
ditch efforts in Defense Minister Norbert Darabos' attempts to keep 
the price for the interceptors as low as possible. Security experts 
are skeptical, however, whether fewer jets really equal lower costs, 
because operating and maintenance costs for the individual planes 
would increase as a result. Nonetheless, the negotiations between 
the Defense minister and Eurofighter EADS seem to have entered the 
decisive final state, centrist daily Die Presse says. In addition, 
the parliamentary investigative committee looking into the 
circumstances of the purchase deal will soon present its findings. 
It is expected to recommend a withdrawal from the purchase contract, 
the Presse adds. Mass-circulation tabloid Kronen Zeitung, meanwhile, 
sees the latest developments in the Eurofighter case as "putting a 
new strain on the coalition government." 
 
 
Suspected Spy Released 
 
¶2. Austrian police have released a Russian man arrested a week ago 
in Salzburg on suspicion of spying, after Russia refused to waive 
the man's diplomatic immunity. He is believed to have left the 
country. An expert opinion from the UN legal office in New York 
confirmed the Russian's diplomatic status. The suspect is believed 
to have received sensitive information from a deputy officer in the 
Austrian army regarding the German-French combat helicopter 
Eurocopter Tiger. 
Reporting on the release of a Russian citizen arrested a week ago in 
Salzburg on suspicion of spying, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung 
says the man was part of an official delegation to a UN meeting in 
Vienna on the peaceful uses of outer space. He is suspected of 
receiving sensitive information on a German-French combat helicopter 
from an officer in the Austrian army. The Interior Ministry in 
Vienna confirmed that the Russian and the Austrian had been under 
observation for a month before they were arrested. The Russian 
reportedly paid a substantial amount of money for information 
received. The Austrian suspect, a vice lieutenant with the army, has 
meanwhile been suspended from work and could be disciplined further 
if proven guilty. Russia had called his arrest unfriendly and 
harming bilateral relations. 
 
 
Tough Summit in Brussels 
 
¶3. European Union leaders are preparing for a second day of tough 
talks in Brussels on institutional reform today. Germany, which 
currently holds the EU Presidency, is hoping the talks will result 
in a deal on a new treaty to replace the failed draft constitution. 
Britain and Poland are among the countries seen as presenting the 
most obstacles to reaching an agreement. The British government 
wants to water down proposals on EU foreign policy and Poland 
insists on renegotiating entirely a proposed voting scheme. 
All Austrian media agree that the EU summit currently underway in 
Brussels is fraught with difficulties. Centrist daily Die Presse 
comments on the "erosion of a community," and suggests that the 
current tensions could lead to a "fragmentation of the EU, unless 
the member states succeed in pulling together." Currently, Poland 
and Britain are posing the greatest threats to the EU. Demands at 
the summit are becoming increasingly more bizarre, and positions are 
hardening, which only leaves a 50:50 chance of success, according to 
the daily. Mass-circulation daily Kurier suggests that Poland's 
"tough course" and its "macabre behavior" is angering the summit 
partners in Brussels. The daily quotes Austrian Chancellor Alfred 
Gusenbauer, who called on outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair 
to support efforts on a new EU treaty: "It would add to Blair's 
legacy if he made a constructive contribution." 
 
 
Lebanon Moves against Islamist Fighters 
 
¶4. Lebanon says it has crushed a group of Islamist fighters based in 
a Palestinian refugee camp after a month-long battle. Muslim clerics 
acting as mediators said the group, Fatah al-Islam, had agreed to a 
ceasefire. More than 150 people were killed in the clashes, 
including at least 20 civilians. 
Reporting on the ongoing crisis in the Palestinian territories and 
the rivalry between Hamas and Fatah, semi-official daily Wiener 
Zeitung says that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has ruled out 
any chance of a rapprochement. Fatah would "not agree to a dialogue 
with the Hamas traitors," the daily quotes. Centrist daily Die 
Presse meanwhile confirms that outgoing British Premier Tony Blair 
has been proposed as candidate for the post of a new special envoy 
for the Middle East. In an interview with the daily, Middle East 
expert at the Brookings Institution, Tamara Wittes, emphasized that 
the Gaza Strip must be taken into account in efforts to solve the 
crisis, as it would be "difficult to imagine a solution that 
excludes almost half of the Palestinian people. It would be possible 
to realize some kind of Palestinian state in the West Bank only, but 
it would not solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Without the 
Gaza Strip there can be no real solution of the conflict." 
 
 
US Said to Be Looking at Ways to Close Guantanamo 
 
¶5. The US government is working on a decision on whether to shut 
down the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and transfer 
the detained terrorist suspects to maximum security prisons in the 
US, Associated Press said, sourcing high-ranking US government 
representatives. After reports on the issue were floated in the US 
media, however, the White House cancelled a meeting of security 
experts scheduled for today, and stated that the Bush administration 
was "not nearing a decision" on the status of the Guantanamo camp. 
According to US government circles, Secretary of State Condoleezza 
Rice, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Attorney General Alberto 
Gonzales, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and 
Vice-President Dick Cheney were supposed to have participated in the 
cancelled meeting on Guantanamo. Earlier efforts to shut down the 
Guantanamo Bay detention facility had been blocked by Cheney, 
Gonzales and former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, ORF online news 
reports. The same government circles suggest, however, that these 
days, the State, Defense and Homeland Security Departments, as well 
as the intelligence services are supporting a closure of the 
Guantanamo camp, according to ORF online. In another report, ORF 
online news says that recent polls show US President George Bush's 
popularity ratings have hit a new low: A survey published by US 
magazine Newsweek says that only 26 percent of Americans approve of 
President Bush's performance in office. 73 percent say they are not 
pleased with the President's Iraq policy; only 23 percent approve. 
Kilner