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SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: October 1, 2007 
 
Prominent Politicians Testify in Bawag Trial 
 
¶1. After a week's hiatus, the Bawag trial will resume on Monday with 
more prominent politicians testifying. The first to testify is 
former Federal Chancellor Franz Vranitzky, followed by former 
Vice-Governor of the National Bank, Gertrude Tumpl-Gugerell. On 
Wednesday, former Minister of Finance and current Meinl-Power 
Manager Karl-Heinz Grasser as well as current President of the 
Chamber of Labor Herbert Tumpl will appear before the court. Some of 
the witnesses have already been interrogated - for example 
Vranitzky, who received an honorarium of 72,000 euros from 
investment banker Wolfgang Flttl, allegedly for his role as a 
consultant.  [ORF online, Oe1 radio morning news] 
 
Reformer Prll for Majority Voting System 
 
¶2. On Monday, the "perspective group" headed by Minister for the 
Environment Josef Prll, which has worked out guidelines for the 
future OeVP policy, will make a case for the introduction of a 
majority voting system. Several options are on the table that will 
now be discussed. Also, the group has made various suggestions 
concerning family policy - "family splitting" that will lead to 
extensive tax benefits for families - and the future status of 
homosexual partnerships.  [Der Standard, p. 1 and 2] 
The core points of the perspectives outlined by Josef Prll's 
"perspective group" concern the family - its economic position will 
be strengthened by so-called "family splitting," whereby the overall 
income of a family will be divided by the number of family members 
to help determine the amount of income tax to be paid by the 
respective family. According to mass circulation tabloid "Neue 
Kronenzeitung," this amounts to a 15th salary for families. The SPOe 
objects to this proposal and has already labeled it "retro" and an 
"ideological relic." SPOe spokesman Josef Kalina argues that family 
taxation, which was abolished by former Chancellor Bruno Kreisky, 
"primarily benefits well-to-do families with only one earner, quotes 
mass circulation daily "Kurier." With regard to the much-debated 
"gay marriage" issue, the OeVP has proposed a "registered 
partnership" which would give homosexual couples all the rights of 
regular marriage - except for the right to adopt children, reports 
independent daily "Der Standard." The daily also analyses Prll's 
proposals with regard to the various leadership claims within the 
OeVP and comes to the conclusion that Josef Prll may have taken the 
lead with regard to the debate about the future course of the OeVP, 
but party boss Wilhelm Molterer has nevertheless staked out his 
claim to lead the party into the next elections and assume the 
chancellorship. 
 
Plassnik Critical of US Policy 
 
¶3. Austrian Foreign minister Ursula Plassnik ended her New York trip 
on the occasion of the UN General Assembly with cautious criticism 
of the US administration. She warned that "no one, not even the most 
powerful [state] can master the challenges of the 21st century 
alone" and added that "unilateralism and nationalism will lead to a 
dead end" - an allusion to the US policy in Iraq. In her speech 
before the UN General Assembly, Plassnik called for a new, global 
partnership.  [Die Presse, Sa, p. 8] 
In an interview with centrist daily "Die Presse," the Austrian 
Foreign Minister summed up her New York trip and stressed the good 
cooperation with Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, who had 
likewise been at the UN General Assembly. She pointed out Austria's 
connections with the Pacific states concerning the dialogue about 
climate change and emphasized her contacts with 15 representatives 
of West Africa - in preparation of the November conference in 
Burkina Faso. These "exotic" meetings have to be seen against the 
backdrop of Austria's efforts to gain a seat in the UN Security 
Council, writes the daily. In New York, Plassnisk also met with her 
Syrian colleague Muallem, and in this respect, she was pleased to 
note that the US is now prepared to include Syria in the Middle East 
peace effort. "It is important that Syria uses this chance and 
commits itself in Lebanon in a constructive way," said the Foreign 
Minister and added that the development of relations between the EU 
and Syria depends on that. 
 
Timochenko ahead in Ukrainian Parliamentary Elections 
 
¶4. The promoters of the so-called "orange revolution" have 
apparently achieved a majority in the early parliamentary elections 
that took place on Sunday. According to the projected results, the 
party of former Prime Minister Julia Timochenko is ahead with 33.38 
percent of the votes, almost ten percent more than in the elections 
ten months ago. The early election was made necessary because of the 
political crisis that has blocked the country for months - the 
divide between the pro-Russian camp of current Prime Minister Viktor 
Yanukovich and the recently reconciled pro-Western alliance of the 
orange revolution of opposition leader Timochenko and the current 
President Yushchenko. The latter announced before the elections that 
he was prepared to work together with his former political ally 
Timochenko. [ORF online, Oe1 radio morning news] 
Both President Yushchenko and Julia Timochenko have already ruled 
out a coalition with acting Prime Minister Yanukovich, reports ORF 
online. The Kremlin is threatening to intervene indirectly - 
depending on the final outcome of the elections, Russia will set the 
price for gas deliveries. ORF online quotes the Ukrainian daily 
"Kommersant," which, citing Russian gas supplier "Gazprom as its 
source, asserts that the price of future gas deliveries will lie 
between 102 and 123 euros per cubic meter if Yanukovich heads the 
new government - if opposition leader Timochenko takes over, 
however, the price could be raised to 162 euros per cubic meter. 
Mass circulation daily "Kurier" has predicted that whoever heads the 
new Ukrainian government will have much to contend with:  A complete 
re-structuring of the state's institutions. Their weakness became 
apparent in the spring when the President had wanted to fire the 
Prosecutor General and the later refused to leave his post and 
barricaded himself in his office with the backing of the Prime 
Minister. A situation like this is attributable to an unclear 
constitution that does not provide for a precise division of 
competencies between Prime Minister and President, writes the daily. 
 
 
Bush Wants Measurable Progress in Climate Protection 
 
¶5. At a climate summit hosted by the US government in Washington, at 
which 16 large industrial nations participated, US President Bush 
intends to build a new consensus in the climate protection issue. In 
the run-up to the summit, critics had claimed that Washington was 
trying to undermine the respective efforts of the United Nations. 
The US tried to allay these concerns by stressing the necessity for 
joint action. In her opening speech, Secretary of State Condoleezza 
Rice said that "[we] all need partners" and called for an 
international consensus in the climate issue. However, the 
approaches differ in just this respect:  While the UN emphasizes the 
necessity for binding targets, the Bush administration holds that 
the individual countries must decide on the respective steps to 
ensure climate protection. In his address before the delegates on 
Friday, Bush admitted, however, that "these measures must yield 
measurable results." This concession is seen as an important step 
towards a rapprochement of the two diametrically opposed positions. 
[Die Presse, Sa, p. 8] 
The Bush administration insists that large nations such as India and 
China have to be included in any climate targets. According to the 
White House advisor for environmental issues, Jim Connaughton, these 
states will soon overtake the industrial nations as main producers 
of emissions - therefore, effective climate protection is only 
possible with their participation, he maintains. Summing up the 
conference, centrist daily "Die Presse" points out that, despite 
much skepticism, Bush's change of heart on the climate issue was 
acknowledged. Since his inauguration in 2001, when Bush outright 
rejected Kyoto, his position has changed considerably - at the G-8 
summit in Germany, he had to contend with the fact that climate 
policy was a major issue and reacted to this by proposing the 
conference in Washington. In Germany, the US President for the first 
time endorsed a new global climate protection agreement. On the 
other hand, Bush has simply skipped the UN climate summit, points 
out Oe1 evening radio news, which is decidedly more skeptical about 
any fundamental change in US policy. "Even if President Bush has 
announced a global fund for the promotion of 
environmentally-friendly technologies - one thing has become 
unmistakably clear at the climate summit in Washington:  It will 
become very difficult at the big UN climate conference in Bali in 
December. 
 
Junta Triumphs 
 
¶6. After the junta has stifled the protest in the Burmese capital of 
Rangun over the weekend, there is now a tense calm. Hundreds of 
monks and civilians were arrested over the past few days - they have 
disappeared and nothing is known of their fate. The number of dead 
is also uncertain. In the meantime, UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari 
has visited Burma for talks - so far without results. According to 
reports, junta boss General Than Shwe has denied him a meeting. 
Nothing is known about Gambari's talks with opposition leader Suu 
Kyi either.  [Salzburger Nachrichten, other Austrian media] 
Apparently, Beijing, which has contacts to the junta and means to 
exert influence does not consider the unrest bad enough to intervene 
- after all, neither the regime nor the region have been 
destabilized, writes independent daily "Salzburger Nachrichten." In 
the meantime, the state-controlled television station has shown 
protest marches that were directed against the freedom movement. The 
members of the so-called "Union Solidarity and Development 
Association," which is likewise state-controlled, are celebrated as 
heroes and now hunt down the last demonstrators. For years, the USDA 
has assisted the junta in striking down protests. Independent daily 
"Der Standard" quotes unidentified diplomats in Rangun as giving a 
dire assessment of the situation. "I think that the chances of the 
demonstrators to go out into the streets and mobilize enough people 
to topple the junta are zero," one of them is quoted as saying. 
McCaw