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TAGS: OPRC KPAO AU
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: November 14, 2007 
 
Agreement on Pensions 
 
¶1. Members of the SPOe-OeVP coalition government and representatives 
from the retirees association agreed on Tuesday to raise pensions 
next year. Minimum pensions will be increased by 2.9 percent to 747 
Euro per month. Pensions between 1,050 and 1,700 Euros will go up 
two percent. Those between 1,700 and 2,161.50 Euros will be raised 
by 1.7 percent, and people with pensions above 2,161.50 Euros will 
receive an additional 36.75 Euros per month. The deal will cost the 
government a million Euros more than expenditure forecasts 
predicted. The total cost of pensions in Austria, including those of 
civil servants, will amount to 584 million Euros. Experts have 
meanwhile warned that young people will bear the burden and pay the 
price in the long run for the higher-than-expected pension increase, 
semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung reports. 
 
 
Proposal for New Middle Schools 
 
¶2. After Education Minister Claudia Schmied from the Social 
Democrats and Science Minister Johannes Hahn last week reached an 
agreement on school reform following months of tough negotiations, 
an expert commission is expected to present its proposals regarding 
education in the planned comprehensive-type new middle schools 
today. A more active participation in class on the part of the 
students, who are to be working in smaller groups, and teams of 
teachers working with students to guarantee an approach better 
suited to meet students' individual talents and needs are among the 
commission's suggestions. 
 
 
"EU Citizens Storming Austria" 
 
¶3. ... reads today's front-page headline in a leading Austrian 
daily. In its report on immigration trends and figures, the 
newspaper points out that the number of residents in Austria from 
other EU member states is growing steadily. Also, more and more EU 
citizens moving to Austria are planning to stay for good. The number 
of immigrants from South-Eastern Europe, however, is on the decline, 
according to the daily, quoting from a recent study entitled the 
"Second Austrian Immigration and Integration Report," which will be 
presented officially by the Austrian Academy of Sciences on 
Thursday. Another record development, the study says, is that "never 
before in the time of the Second Republic (i.e. since 1955) have so 
many immigrants come to Austria as now," quotes centrist daily Die 
Presse. 
 
 
"The US and Europe Should Learn from China's Universities" 
 
¶4. ... US expert on Chinese history Professor William Kirby stressed 
at a lecture in Vienna last week. China is experiencing what Prof. 
Kirby described as a "renaissance of the humanities;" and a 
veritable "revolution of academic structures" has put the country on 
the path to creating "universities for the masses." This 
development, according to Kirby, is one that both American and 
European universities will have to respond to. Not only the number 
of Chinese universities has increased dramatically over the past 
twenty years, the number of students has also risen sharply, from 
860,000 in 1987 to 26 million in 2006. Centrist daily Die Presse on 
November 10 published a report on a PAS-facilitated lecture in 
Vienna by US expert on Chinese history Professor William Kirby on 
international academic trends. According to Kirby, experts estimate 
that one of the direct consequences of the Chinese education boom 
will be a considerable rise in China's research revenues, which are 
expected to overtake those in the US within a decade. For Kirby, 
this development is "a challenge to US universities," given that in 
his view there is no reason to simply believe that the US will still 
be playing a leading role in that area in ten years. The West would 
also do well to take a leaf out of China's book when it comes to the 
latter's approach to the humanities: "China is taking the humanities 
and the liberal arts just as seriously as technical courses," Kirby 
pointed out. China has come to understand that any society is 
incomplete without classical education - an area that has been 
neglected for a while in Europe and the United States. China, Kirby 
concluded, has outgrown its role as a "copycat," and it is high time 
for the West to start learning from China." 
 
 
Rasmussen Wins Danish Elections 
 
¶5. Denmark's governing coalition led by Prime Minister Anders Fogh 
Rasmussen has won the country's general election, but with a slim 
majority. With all votes counted, the governing block has won 89 (90 
according to some Austrian media) of the 179 seats in Parliament. 
Rasmussen said it was "historic" that the center-right liberal 
government had been elected for the third term. All Austrian media 
point out that Rasmussen's coalition has failed to win the absolute 
majority, and will therefore in future be forced to seek support 
from at least one independent MP from Greenland, or from the New 
Alliance, a new party headed by Syrian-born Palestinian immigrant 
Naser Khader. 
 
 
Iran Hands Over Nuclear Design Documents 
 
¶6. Diplomats linked to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 
say that Iran has handed over documents sought by the Agency in its 
attempts to clarify Tehran's past nuclear activities. According to 
reports by the Associated Press, the documents relate to designs for 
warheads. The IAEA is attempting to shed light on a potential secret 
nuclear program conducted by Iran in the 1980s and 1990s. The report 
by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei on whether Iran has met 
promises to fully reveal past activities is expected this week, says 
ORF radio early morning news Morgenjournal. 
 
 
Bhutto Wants Musharraf's Resignation 
 
¶7. All Austrian media continue to report on developments in 
Pakistan. According to one leading Austrian daily, opposition leader 
and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has called on President 
Pervez Musharraf to step down. "It is time for Musharraf to go," the 
daily quotes Bhutto. She also warned of the possible dire 
consequences of emergency rule, which the President imposed earlier 
this month: "A failure to bring back democracy endangers Pakistan's 
existence."  According to Bhutto, her party, the PPP, is planning to 
boycott the elections to be held in January, claiming that they are 
going to be "nothing but a show, with which the ruling Muslim League 
is trying to secure its power." Reporting on the situation in 
Pakistan, liberal daily Der Standard writes about what it calls the 
"General's last battle." After a long period of hesitation, Benazir 
Bhutto now openly opposes Pervez Musharraf, the daily says.  Bhutto, 
the PPP leader, would have the power to mobilize Pakistan's masses 
against Musharraf, but up to now she has chosen not to do so. The 
truth is: The struggle for power in Pakistan is not being fought in 
the country's streets, but behind the scenes, the Standard suggests. 
And despite paying lip-service to the contrary, many Pakistanis are 
convinced that Bhutto has secretly "been toying with" Musharraf. 
Many people, particularly the bourgeois opposition, are deeply 
disappointed, and observers say that Bhutto has "lost a lot of 
credibility with them." On the other hand, "we cannot rule out that 
the military might decide to sacrifice Musharraf in the end," 
another observer told the Standard. In that event, the army would 
likely appoint someone else as president. And even if Musharraf 
remains in office, he will not have a lot to say any more. "Within 
three months time, Bhutto will be Pakistan's head of government - 
with or without Musharraf," the observer believes. 
 
 
 
The PKK Crisis 
 
¶8. Reporting on developments in the Turkish and Iraqi Kurdish 
regions, a leading Austrian daily says that while 100,000 Turkish 
soldiers are awaiting their marching orders, the Kurdish population 
on both sides of the Turkish-Iraqi border continues to hope for a 
peaceful solution. Kurds in south-eastern Turkey feel that Ankara 
has abandoned them, and are "looking with longing" at the situation 
across the border in Iraq. Meanwhile, in northern Iraq, border 
troops seem willing to let the Turkish army carry out limited 
operations, stressing that the Iraqi Kurds "do not want the PKK, 
either." Turkey's Premier Erdogan has in the meantime announced that 
a Turkish military operation in north Iraq will be "launched before 
the beginning of winter," writes centrist daily Die Presse. 
McCaw