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TAGS: OPRC KPAO AU
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: August 8, 2007 
 
 
Verzetnitsch Defends Himself 
 
¶1. All media report that former Austrian Unions Association (OeGB) 
boss Fritz Verzetnitsch has come under fire in connection with the 
bank Bawag trial currently underway in Vienna: It has been alleged 
that he made false statements earlier this year before the 
parliamentary committee looking into the losses incurred by the 
bank. Verzetnitsch may be facing legal proceedings should it turn 
out he knew about the Bawag's disastrous currency speculations as 
early as 1998, and not in 2000, as he has been claiming. The former 
OeGB boss has now gone on the offensive, with his lawyer dismissing 
the allegations. 
The majority of Austrian media, including mass-circulation 
provincial daily Salzburger Nachrichten and mass-circulation daily 
Kurier, are suggesting false testimony charges against former OeGB 
President Fritz Verzetnitsch are extremely likely. The Kurier quotes 
a spokesperson for the Vienna Public Prosecutor's office as arguing 
an indictment is "realistic," given that Verzetnitsch is suspected 
to have facilitated the concealment of the bank Bawag's huge losses. 
The bank Bawag trial on Tuesday meanwhile continued to focus on the 
questions of which of the defendants, including former bank CEO 
Helmut Elsner and investment banker Wolfgang Floettl, knew what 
about the failed currency speculations and when. 
 
 
Debate over Early Tax Reform Continues 
 
¶2. In Austria, strong economic growth has led to a healthy increase 
in federal tax revenues and produced numerous calls for tax breaks 
before 2010, when they are scheduled to occur. Government revenues 
were seven percent higher in the first half of this year than they 
were in the first six months of 2006. The increase in revenues from 
corporate taxes on company profits has been especially strong. 
Finance Minister Wilhelm Molterer of the People's Party, however, 
has so far been adamant in his refusal to introduce tax reforms 
prior to the date agreed on in the coalition pact between the Social 
Democrats and the OeVP. 
All Austrian media continue to report on the current growth in tax 
revenues in Austria. Liberal daily Der Standard writes that the 
economic boom has resulted in a surplus of two billion Euros in tax 
revenues: This has increased pressure on Finance Minister Wilhelm 
Molterer to use the additional money for tax reform before 2010. The 
government partners have so far dismissed such calls, however, the 
daily adds. Likewise, centrist daily Die Presse reports on "record 
revenues" and "record spending." The daily explains that the surplus 
from tax revenues will likely be "spent immediately," as federal 
expenditures have also increased this year. A reform cannot be 
expected prior to the scheduled date of 2010, for which the 
government is planning tax cuts of up to three billion Euros. It is 
not yet clear, however, which income groups can expect to profit 
from the reform measures, says the Presse. 
 
 
UN to Decide On Its Role in Iraq 
 
¶3. Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is visiting Iran today for 
talks aimed at reducing violence in Iraq. Meanwhile, the union 
representing the United Nations staff in Iraq says workers should be 
pulled out of the country until their security can be guaranteed. 
The union claims that UN personnel cannot be properly protected by 
the US-led forces in Iraq. The call comes as UN officials are 
preparing to pass a draft resolution, which would give the 
organization an expanded role in Iraq. The United States and Britain 
had presented the draft in the face of growing calls at home for a 
pullout of their troops from Iraq. 
Meanwhile, in Baghdad, the crisis in the Iraqi government continues, 
with additional Sunni representatives leaving the administration, 
semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung says. Five Sunni politicians from 
the circle around the former Iraqi head of government Iyad Allawi 
have announced they would not participate in cabinet meetings for 
the time being because Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki appears 
to be unwilling to meet demands presented by the Sunnis. With the 
boycott of the five ministers there a no Sunni representatives left 
in al-Maliki's government, the daily notes, and adds that this makes 
the government's task to boost reconciliation beyond ethnic and 
religious boundaries in Iraq even more difficult. 
 
 
North-South Korea Summit Scheduled for August 
 
¶4. Leaders of North Korea and South Korea will meet for a summit 
later this month in Pyongyang -- the second such meeting between the 
two countries that are still technically at war. South Korea's 
national security advisor says the aim of the summit is to "connect 
and develop in a positive way the progress made at the six way talks 
and North-South relations." The scheduled summit is a "natural 
result," which is part of that "positive development." The United 
States has meanwhile welcomed the announcement. 
ORF online news reports on the current "thaw" between North Korea 
and South Korea: After their last summit meeting in 2000, Pyongyang 
and Seoul have now taken another step toward a normalization of 
relations between North Korea and South Korea, scheduling another 
meeting for late August. The summit aims at further defusing the 
nuclear conflict between the two states that are officially still at 
war, and at launching a "phase of peace," ORF online news says. 
Welcoming this development, spokesperson for the US State Department 
Joanne Moore said that the US "has been welcoming and supporting the 
North-South dialogue for a long time, and we hope this meeting will 
help promote peace and security on the Korean Peninsula." 
 
 
The Allies Have Fallen Out 
 
¶5. ... headlines independent provincial daily Salzburger 
Nachrichten, publishing an analysis of the US-Afghan relations. The 
provincial daily suggests that the two allies have chosen different 
paths on a key issue: While President Bush wants to isolate Iran, 
his Afghan colleague Hamid Karzai is doing everything not to 
jeopardize his country's relationship with Tehran. 
US President Bush and Afghanistan's President Karzai may be close 
allies, but when it comes to Iran, the two leaders are apparently 
unable to agree on a joint course, the daily says. For Karzai, the 
situation seems to be clear: "Iran supports Afghanistan in promoting 
the peace process and in its fight against terror and drugs," the 
daily quotes. Meanwhile, Karzai's key ally George Bush recently 
stressed at a press conference that the US would "continue to 
isolate Iran, as that country is up to no good." Only rarely will 
two allied heads of state voice their different views so openly, and 
only rarely is it as apparent to what extent the positions of 
governments are determined by individual interests, the Salzburger 
Nachrichten points out. Nonetheless, both Karzai and Bush are right, 
considering that Iran, intent on safeguarding its own interests, has 
for months been playing on both sides of the road in the area, 
according to the Salzburger Nachrichten. 
Kilner