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TAGS: OPRC KPAO AU
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: June 27, 2007 
 
 
Solution on Eurofighters 
 
 
¶1. Defense Minister Norbert Darabos of the Social Democrats has 
reached an agreement with Eurofighter producer EADS: The corporation 
will deliver only 15 instead of the planned 18 interceptor jets to 
Austria - a deal that will save the country up to 400 million Euros, 
Darabos says. It is not clear whether the SPOe's coalition partner 
OeVP is going to back the agreement. The Conservatives have said 
they want to look into the Defense Minister's package deal first. 
The opposition parties BZOe, FPOe and the Greens have massively 
criticized the agreement with EADS. 
Like all Austrian media, mass-circulation daily Kurier reports on 
the solution in the dispute over the Eurofighter jets for Austria's 
armed forces, pointing out that the savings of about 400 million 
Euros as announced by Defense Minister Norbert Darabos will result 
both from a reduction to 15 of the number of jets to be purchased 
and from the fact that Austria will receive six used interceptors. 
The OeVP has criticized the solution as a "sham package," adding 
that it will take a close look at Darabos' agreement with EADS 
before deciding on whether to back the deal. After all, the Kurier 
explains, the Defense Minister had gone ahead and concluded the deal 
without having first secured OeVP's support. Although he would 
prefer OeVP's backing, it is not vital for the agreement, Darabos 
said, emphasizing he would also "go it alone" should the 
Conservatives decide not to support the solution. According to ORF 
online news, the opposition parties have harshly criticized Darabos' 
move. The FPOe accused Darabos of having concluded a "horse trade" 
with EADS, the BZOe meanwhile complained that the Social Democrats 
had broken yet another election campaign promise, and the Greens are 
criticizing the fact that the Minister acted without waiting for the 
publication of the parliamentary investigative committee's findings 
on the Eurofighter purchase. 
 
 
Town Signs: Struggle for a Solution 
 
¶2. Joerg Haider, the governor of the province of Carinthia, met with 
Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer on Tuesday evening to discuss the 
ongoing dispute over bilingual town signs. On Monday, Haider had 
rejected a plan put forward by the Chancellor, which cals for 163 
bilingual signs to be put up, saying e will accept no more than 102 
signs, 11 more thn those in place now. 
I the dispute over bilingal town signs, Carinthian governor Joerg 
Haider rjected a plan put forward by Chancellor Gusenbauerearlier 
this week, accusing the Chancellor of piking towns according to 
ther political affiliations. Following consultations with mayors in 
his province earlier on Tuesday, Haider also warned that no local 
official from his provincial administration would put up the signs 
if the government in Vienna sought to force a solution, 
semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung says. The SPO'e coalition partner 
OeVP has meanwhile said it also opposes Gusenbauer's plan. Haider 
and Gusenbauer say they plan to hold further talks, after the 
Carinthian governor stressed on Monday that he would call new 
provincial elections if Gusenbauer's plan was accepted by 
Parliament's constitutional committee. Austria's Constitutional 
Court ruled six years ago that all towns and villages with a 
Slovenian minority of more than 10 percent must have bilingual 
signs, a ruling that Haider continues to defy. The question 
originally goes back to the 1955 State Treaty which says Slovenians 
and Croats in Carinthia, Burgenland and Styria have minority rights. 
Article 7 calls for the dual language signs. Despite the ongoing 
struggle, there are reports a solution to the long running dispute 
could be in place during the summer, the daily concludes. 
 
 
Brown Succeeds Blair as Prime Minister 
 
¶3. Tony Blair is stepping down as British Prime Minister today after 
ten years in office, handing the job over to the new Labour Party 
leader Gordon Brown. US President George Bush has paid tribute to 
his close ally in a British newspaper, describing Blair as very 
talented and saying their partnership had been one of equals. Tony 
Blair is meanwhile expected to be confirmed as the new international 
envoy to the Middle East. 
Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung in an analysis of what to expect 
from Gordon Brown as Britain's new Prime Minister says that "on the 
foreign policy front, a departure from Blair's strategy is 
unlikely."  However, Brown may be more "flexible" than Blair in his 
interpretation of "stability" for Iraq; and his military advisors 
might propose a quick troop pullout from Iraq in order to prevent 
overburdening the British army. Meanwhile, the daily continues, the 
nomination of Tony Blair as the new international envoy for the 
Middle East has been received with skepticism from several 
countries, particularly Russia. Hamas, too, has emphasized the 
Palestinian people's "bad experience with Blair."  Liberal daily Der 
Standard writes that the Middle East Quartet is banking on Blair to 
make progress on resolving the Palestinian crisis, although the 
daily suggests that the former British Premier's lasting support for 
US President Bush's Iraq policy could prove to be a stumbling block. 
In an interview with mass-circulation tabloid Oesterreich, Austrian 
political analyst Anton Pelinka, however, argues that it would be 
"wrong to reduce Blair to the Iraq war." He believes that Blair "has 
been underestimated," because after all, "where the economy is 
concerned, he pushed Britain to the top of the major EU countries." 
His negative record is tied to his orientation on the foreign policy 
front, Peltinka says: "It is important to confront him with that, 
but there's more to Tony Blair than just Iraq." The former British 
Premier "put ecological and humanitarian issues high on his agenda," 
the analyst explains. 
 
 
US to Tighten Immigration Procedures 
 
¶4. Austrian media reported on Tuesday that the United States is 
planning to further tighten immigration procedures for visitors from 
Visa Waiver (VWP) countries. As of next year, travelers will have 
ten instead of two finger scans taken upon arrival in the US. 
Several major US airports are expected to be launching trial periods 
of the extended finger scanning procedure starting in fall. Other 
potential measures include online questionnaires to be completed by 
VWP country nationals several weeks before their planned trip to the 
United States. 
Like several Austrian media, semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung 
reports on US plans to further tighten immigration procedures for 
Visa Waiver travelers and visa holders from European countries. A 
pilot project is to be launched at ten US airports this year, 
requiring visitors to the US from the countries in question to have 
ten finger scans taken. Future measures could also include a check 
of additional biometric data, such as retina scans, the Wiener 
Zeitung quotes Deputy Director for Homeland Security P.T. Wright. 
The data received is to be checked against the Homeland Security 
Department and other official institutions' watch lists; the FBI and 
the CIA will also be given access to the data, according to the 
daily.  Congress is meanwhile debating yet another potential 
measure: In the future, all European travelers to the US may be 
required to enter their travel plans into an online data base 48 
hours prior to their departure at the latest. 
McCaw