VZCZCXYZ0008
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHVI #2425/01 2601337
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171337Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8586
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/WHITEHOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS VIENNA 002425 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/AGS, INR/EU, AND EUR/PPD FOR YVETTE SAINT-ANDRE 
 
OSD FOR COMMANDER CHAFFEE 
 
WHITEHOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KPAO AU
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: September 17, 2007 
 
 
Prammer: No Referendum on EU Treaty 
 
¶1. Ahead of sessions resuming after the summer recess today, 
Austrian Parliamentary President Barbara Prammer of the SPOe 
outlines the key issues Parliament will be expected to address in 
2007/2008. Topics include decisions on the EU reform treaty, Prammer 
says, and underscores that in her view an Austrian referendum is not 
necessary to pass the document, which is to replace the EU 
Constitution. She is "convinced" the treaty is "compatible with the 
Austrian Constitution." 
Reporting on Barbara Prammer's recent statements on the EU reform 
treaty, mass-circulation tabloid Kronen Zeitung runs the front-page 
headline "Parliamentary President snubs voters: The people don't get 
their say on EU!" With her announcement that a referendum on the 
treaty was "not necessary," the Parliamentary President, as well as 
the coalition partners SPOe and OeVP were "walking over the Austrian 
people," the tabloid continues. Prammer points out that the Austrian 
Parliament had voted in support of the EU draft constitution in the 
past, and she argues that the revised document, the so-called EU 
reform treaty, which the Kronen Zeitung describes as a "sham 
package," is "compatible with the Austrian constitution." 
 
 
Gusenbauer Rebukes OeVP 
 
¶2. Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer from the Social Democrats 
has rebuked his coalition partner OeVP for its stance on 
integration. Speaking on ORF television, the Chancellor criticized 
that a number of OeVP MPs had participated in a demonstration 
"alongside radicals and skinheads" against an Islamic center in 
Vienna. "It is a cause for concern, when individuals fail to clearly 
disassociate themselves from any kind of far-right mobilization," 
Gusenbauer warned. He also called for a "different tone" in the 
debate of integration issues. 
Like all major Austrian media, centrist daily Die Presse and liberal 
daily Der Standard point out that Austrian Chancellor Alfred 
Gusenbauer, speaking on ORF TV's Sunday morning program Meet the 
Press on September 16, underscored that "Terrorism, and 
dictatorship, the enemies of democracy, but not Islam, nor any other 
religion or faith, is our enemy." On Tuesday, the Chancellor 
continued, he wants to kick off a dialogue with representatives of 
different faiths, while making it clear that "Austria rejects 
fundamentalism. We are a country that has chosen a middle course, 
moderation and peaceful coexistence." This, however, requires that 
everyone in Austria observes values including tolerance, equal 
rights and opportunities, and open democracy: "Those who come to 
live in our country also need to observe those values, and they'll 
also have the chance to become proud Austrians, just as we are," 
Gusenbauer stressed. That is why the issue of Islamic fundamentalism 
needed to be addressed politically in the same way as those 
"die-hard, stick-in-the-mud groups and people" needed to be dealt 
with, who were continuing to live in the past, said the Chancellor. 
 
 
 
More Money for Bigger Families 
 
¶3. Families with three or more children may soon be entitled to a 
raise of child benefit payments per child and per month. Minister of 
Health and Family Affairs Andrea Kdolsky (OeVP) submitted the 
corresponding law for appraisal Friday. Under the new scheme, a 
family will receive 35 Euros for its second and third child 
combined, and another 50 for each further child, in addition to the 
monthly sum of about 400 Euros. The law also raises the income limit 
for big families. In total, the new child benefit package will cost 
the government 36 million Euros, and is expected to go into effect 
on 1 January, 2008. 
According to mass-circulation tabloid Oesterreich of September 15, 
Minister for Women's Issues Doris Bures from the SPOe welcomed her 
OeVP colleague Andrea Kdolsky's announcement that families with 
three or more children can expect to be entitled to a raise of child 
benefit payments per child and per month as of 2008. The Greens 
family issue spokesperson Sabine Mandak, however, was more critical: 
"It would make a lot more sense to provide more money for the 
expansion of child daycare facilities." 
 
 
Mukasey to Replace Gonzales? 
 
¶4. US President George W. Bush is said to have chosen a replacement 
for outgoing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The US President is 
expected to nominate retired federal judge Michael Mukasey, who has 
presided over a number of high-profile terrorism trials. Gonzales 
stepped down earlier this year amid accusations that he fired eight 
lawyers for political reasons and later lied about it. 
ORF online news describes the potential successor for the post of 
Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, as a "retired, conservative 
federal judge." Sourcing the Washington Post and the New York Times, 
ORF online news adds that although Mukasey is considered a 
conservative, and a "man of law and order," he is also has the 
appreciation of the Democrats, which should rule out any major 
problems in connection with his Senate confirmation. The 66-year-old 
Mukasey was the presiding judge in several terrorism cases during 
the past decades, and also worked as a legal advisor to Republican 
presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani. 
 
 
IAEA Members to Discuss Nuclear Security 
 
¶5. Nuclear experts from around the world are gathering in Vienna 
this week for a meeting which aims to make nuclear energy safer and 
to restrict the spread of nuclear weapons. The 144 member nations of 
the International Atomic Energy Agency will discuss nuclear security 
as well as measures to protect against nuclear terrorism. IAEA 
Director General Mohamed ElBaradei has warned of the risks in 
connection with nuclear materials falling into the hands of 
terrorists. 
Meanwhile, ORF radio early morning news Morgenjournal, reporting on 
the issue of Iran, says that the French Foreign Minister, Bernard 
Kouchner, has given a warning about the possibility of war over 
Iran's nuclear program. Speaking on French television and radio, 
Kouchner stressed that "we have to prepare for the worst, and the 
worst is war." The Minister also emphasized that although 
negotiations with Iran should continue right to the end, an Iranian 
nuclear weapon would pose a real danger. Tehran meanwhile continues 
to deny it is trying to acquire nuclear weapons, but insists on its 
right to enrich uranium. 
 
 
Over 90 Killed In Thailand Plane Crash 
 
¶6. According to ORF online news, the death toll in yesterday's plane 
crash in Thailand is now put at 91. About 40 people -- among them 
one Austrian from Vorarlberg -- escaped the burning wreck, after the 
plane, which was operated by budget airline One-TwoGo, skidded off 
the runway at Phuket Airport in havy rain. Investigators say that 
two flight recoders have in the meantime been recovered. Accordin 
to the Austrian Foreign Ministry, it is not cler whether ny other 
Austrians may have been amon those killed in the crash, as the 
authorities inThailand have not yet published a full list of 
pssengers. 
 
 
Karamanlis Wins Greek Elections 
 
7 The governing conservative party of Greek Prime Mnister Kostas 
Karamanlis has claimed victory in the general elections. With most 
votes counted, his New Democracy Party won almost 43 percent of the 
votes, compared with 38.5 percent for Socialist party Pasok. 
Karamanlis said his party therefore had a clear mandate "for a new, 
more dynamic beginning" to "continue more swiftly and decisively the 
changes, and the reforms the country needs." The Greek election 
campaigns were dominated by last month's devastating forest fires, 
ORF radio early morning news Morgenjournal reports. 
McCaw