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TAGS: OPRC KPAO AU
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: July 30, 2007 
 
 
Molterer Reprimands Buchinger 
 
¶1. In an interview with independent daily "Salzburger Nachrichten," 
Vice Chancellor Wilhelm Molterer criticizes his coalition colleague 
Erwin Buchinger's latest political proposals. Buchinger's demand for 
a four-percent pay rise for employees was an intervention into the 
affairs of the social partners, said Molterer, and likewise 
dismissed his SPOe colleague's idea that companies that are not 
willing to hire older employees should contribute a larger share to 
social security benefits. According to Molterer, nothing could be 
gained by imposing "punitive taxes." 
According to "Salzburger Nachrichten," Wilhelm Molterer advocates 
lowering the non-wage labor costs for older employees. Molterer 
criticizes Buchinger's over-eagerness with regard to coming forward 
with new proposals:  "Politics is not about making new suggestions 
every day." Also, Molterer announced in the interview that the 
coming tax reform will benefit the middle class and will generally 
bring a simplification of the tax system. However, the next tax 
reform will not come before 2010 - Molterer argues that it would be 
"economically wrong" to do it now that the economy is growing as it 
has not done in a long time. "We have to be able to afford a tax 
reform first," Molterer said with reference to the still existing 
state debt. 
 
Fewer Applications for Austrian Citizenship 
 
¶2. In all provinces of Austria, immigration applications have 
decreased - in parts of the country by more than 50 percent. The 
respective numbers were made public by the Ministry of the Interior 
following a parliamentary enquiry by the Greens. In Vienna alone, 
there were more than 21,000 applicants for Austrian citizenship in 
2005, but only 824 in the first third of this year. The Greens 
believe that the decrease is due to the tightening of the 
immigration laws under the last government. [Der Standard, p. 1 and 
7] 
 
 
Schwarzenegger Turns 60 
 
¶3. Austrian-born Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is 
celebrating his 60th birthday on Monday. The former body-builder, 
whose political ambitions were frequently belittled when he first 
sought office, has in the meantime turned into a model politician, 
who has earned widespread respect for his environmental and social 
initiatives. 
In the meantime, Schwarzenegger's performance as governor makes 
headlines in the US:  "Time" put him and New York's Mayor Michael 
Bloomberg on the title page - as model examples for a hands-on 
policy that is in sharp contrast to the ever-expanding, slow-moving 
bureaucracy of the US capital. Schwarzenegger has learned a lot 
during his time in office, analyses centrist daily "Die Presse," 
which, together with all other Austrian media covers the 
Schwarzenegger birthday. After getting off to a bad start and losing 
a lot of popularity and support, Schwarzenegger achieved a decisive 
turnaround:  With the help of new advisors and strategists, he 
sought to build consensus with the Democratic majority in the 
California State Senate and slowly drifted toward the political 
center. He implemented new regulations for reducing gasoline demand, 
came forward with a new law to reduce emissions and supported stem 
cell research. His latest move to introduce a general health 
insurance is currently being debated in the Sacramento legislature. 
The next step up for Schwarzenegger could be a seat in the US 
Senate, speculates "Die Presse." 
 
Rice and Gates in the Middle East 
 
¶4. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense 
Robert Gates have embarked on a trip to the Middle East in order to 
discuss the situation in Iraq with representatives from the region. 
Their goal is to win regional support for the stabilization of Iraq. 
This is an issue where the Americans feel the Arab countries are not 
doing enough - and behind the scenes, Arab diplomats do not even 
deny this. In turn, the Arabs charge the US with supporting a 
Sunni-hostile regime in Baghdad. After talks in Egypt and Saudi 
Arabia, Rice and Gates will part ways:  Rice will go on to Jerusalem 
and Ramallah, while Gates will visit Kuwait and the Emirates.  [ORF 
online, Oe1 radio morning news] 
 
US Plans to Provide Middle East with Arms Confirmed 
 
¶5. The Americans are intending to deliver arms on a large scale to 
Israel, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf states to strengthen them 
against a hostile and aggressive Iran. Israel's Prime Minister Ehud 
Olmert announced on Sunday that US President Bush had promised him 
massive arms deliveries over the next ten years - thus confirming 
statements by a US Defense Department official who had revealed the 
plan earlier. More than 60 billion dollars will be spent on this 
project. 
Olmert understands the US intentions to support the moderate Arab 
states, writes independent daily "Der Standard." After all, these 
states, together with Israel and the US form a bulwark against Iran. 
US administration officials also confirmed that it was the goal of 
the military assistance to reduce the growing influence of Iran in 
the Middle East. In the meantime, Tehran's Foreign Minister has 
declared that his country was not afraid of a military coup on the 
part of the US. The daily quotes from an interview of Foreign 
Minister Mottaki with the German magazine "Focus," where he said 
that he thought the US administration was not in a situation to 
begin another military conflict, and referred to the fact that not 
even the 170,000 US troops stationed in Iraq could guarantee 
security - neither their own nor that of the Iraqis. 
 
Defeat for Abe 
 
¶6. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzu Abe suffered a severe defeat in 
partial parliamentary elections on Sunday.  His ruling Liberal 
Democratic Party (LDP) lost its majority in the upper chamber of 
Parliament. Winner of the elections is the opposition Democratic 
Party (DPJ). First post-election analyses showed that primarily 
young voters and disappointed senior citizens voted against the LDP. 
At present, it is estimated that the DPJ may not just have gained 
the majority of seats in the upper chamber, but may even end up with 
double as many seats as the ruling party of Prime Minister Abe. 
[Die Presse, p. 5] 
 
 
Iraqis Want to Get Rid of Petraeus 
 
¶7. David Petraeus, supreme military commander in Iraq, is 
increasingly falling into disfavor. 
Mass circulation daily "Vsterreich" reports on a possible further 
setback for US President George W. Bush in Iraq:  The tensions 
between the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the US occupying 
forces have escalated to the point where the Iraqis, behind the 
scenes, are already demanding the dismissal of General David 
Petraeus. However, the General has been the trump card in Bush's 
strategy. The reason for Maliki's anger is the US decision to supply 
Sunni groups in Iraq with weapons. Petraeus, on the other hand, 
needs the Maliki regime's full support to be able to present 
positive results about his mission to Congress in September. 
Kilner