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P 061538Z MAR 08
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KPAO AU
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: March 06, 2008 
 
Terrorism Trial Continues In Vienna 
 
¶1. The trial of two people on charges connected with terrorism 
threats will continue at a Vienna court today. Prosecutors are 
planning to show a video clip which one of the defendants, Mohamed 
M., allegedly took part in producing. The video was released on the 
internet last March and threatened attacks against Austria and 
Germany unless the two countries withdrew their troops from 
Afghanistan. Austrian media comment that the trial is "uncharted 
territory" for the prosecution, pointing out that this is the first 
time in criminal proceedings in Austria that virtually all the 
evidence is located on the internet, or that the question has arisen 
of whether a defendant wearing a burqa is admissible in court. 
 
 
Ministers Call For Rent Freeze and Lower Prices for Medications 
 
¶2. The Justice and Healthcare Ministers are calling for a freeze on 
rents and lower prices for medications as a means of dealing with 
the effects of continued high inflation on Austrians with low and 
medium incomes. SPOe Justice Minister Maria Berger has called for an 
end to automatic annual adjustment of rents for housing based on 
past inflation rates. At the same time, OeVP Healthcare Minister 
Andrea Kdolsky has threatened to introduce legislation providing for 
lower prices for medications, if the pharmaceutical industry fails 
to agree on price reductions with the social insurance providers by 
next week. 
Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung online writes about the Justice 
and Healthcare Ministers' call for a freeze on rents and lower 
prices for medications as responses to the effects of continued high 
inflation on Austrians with low and medium incomes. Currently, rents 
are raised each April by the amount of inflation in the previous 
December, which would mean an increase of 3.6 percent this April. 
Justice Minister Maria Berger (SPOe) wants to extend the periods 
between rent increases and is planning to introduce legislation to 
that effect. She is also going to establish a working group on the 
issue that will come up with a draft bill by late summer or early 
autumn. At the same time, OeVP Healthcare Minister Andrea Kdolsky 
wants to introduce legislation providing for lower prices for 
medications. However, she has rejected SPOe Social Affairs Minister 
Erwin Buchinger's suggestion to use the proceeds of a capital-gains 
tax to help finance the national healthcare system. The Minister has 
also dismissed SPOe Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer's proposal to link 
tax and healthcare reforms. Kdolsky has set up an experts group to 
tackle the long-term financial security of Austria's national 
healthcare system, which also includes representatives from the 
World Bank and Price Waterhouse Coopers. 
 
 
Austrians Would Prefer Burgstaller and Proell as Heads of Party 
Lists 
 
¶3. Austrians don't want SPOe Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer and OeVP 
Vice-Chancellor Wilhelm Molterer to head their parties' respective 
lists in the next general election. Instead, they would prefer 
Salzburg SPOe Governor Gabi Burgstaller and Lower Austrian OeVP 
Governor Erwin Proell. A survey by polling institute OGM 
commissioned by Austrian television has shown that 34 percent of 
SPOe voters would opt for Burgstaller, while in the OeVP's case 30 
percent support Proell, according to ORF TV's domestic policy 
program Report. 
 
 
"Clinton Is the Comeback Kid" 
 
¶4. ... said US political analyst Jerry Hagstrom in a digital video 
conference hosted and organized by PAS-Vienna for a select group of 
Austrian foreign affairs journalists Wednesday. Democratic 
presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton's victory in Tuesday's 
primaries in Texas and Ohio "may appear as a signal to many voters 
to reconsider their enthusiasm for Barack Obama," Hagstrom said, 
voicing his doubt that the Illinois Senator can be certain to 
continue his string of victories now. The Clintons, Hagstrom 
emphasized, are "serious politicians," who are known for having 
successfully "bounced back" before in seemingly hopeless situations. 
Several Austrian media report on a digital video conference with US 
political analyst Jerry Hagstrom, which was hosted and organized by 
PAS-Vienna for a select group of Austrian media representatives 
Wednesday. Austrian Press Agency APA runs the headline "US political 
expert on Clinton victory: voters reconsider Obama support." For 
many people in the US, Clinton's success in the Ohio and Texas 
primaries may have been a signal to for voters to "prepare to put 
the brakes on" the all-encompassing enthusiasm for Barack Obama, 
Hagstrom suggested. Unlike many other analysts, he does not think 
Bill Clinton's support for Hillary is a setback: No-one had any 
doubts whatsoever that the Clintons are "very serious politicians." 
Besides, Hagstrom added, it would be a mistake to dismiss either the 
former US President's appeal with regard to African American voters 
or the lasting impact of the Clinton years in voters' memories. For 
now, Hillary Clinton's strategy to stress Barack Obama's lack of 
experience, particularly with regard to national security issues, 
has paid off. 
 
Sourcing APA, ORF online news also reports on the DVC, quoting 
Hagstrom as being increasingly certain Clinton might yet win the 
Democratic presidential nomination. In the meantime many Democrats 
are concerned the drawn-out competition between their party's two 
leading candidates will benefit the Republicans in the end, no 
matter whether it is Clinton or Obama running for the presidency. 
The Democratic nightmare, according to Hagstrom: the longer the 
Clinton-Obama rivalry continues, the greater the tension within the 
Democratic Party, which would only play into the hands of their 
political rivals. 
 
Semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung quotes the expert as suggesting 
Hillary Clinton may owe her latest victories to the support of 
Latino voters. The questions of race and religion are decisive 
factors in the race for the White House in any case. Thus, like 
Clinton with the Latinos, Barack Obama can bank on the support and 
solidarity of African American voters. 
 
Mass-circulation daily Kurier says Hagstrom does not want to write 
off Clinton's at this point, and quotes the expert as stressing 
Barack Obama would need a considerable lead in the polls to win the 
November elections. Despite what they might say in public, many US 
voters are likely to decide against an African American presidential 
candidate. Besides, Obama is not undisputed among African American 
voters, either. The fact that his father is from Kenya, and thus not 
a descendant of slaves brought to the US, is an important factor, 
the analyst pointed out. He also stressed that Obama appealed 
primarily to upper-middle-class and college-educated people. 
Besides, unlike in previous primaries and caucuses, he had failed to 
win over voters from traditional Clinton supporting groups, such as 
Latinos or blue collar workers. Furthermore, many of the states 
where the Senator from Illinois won the primaries are considered 
Republican strongholds anyway. 
 
Liberal daily Der Standard, too, picked up Hagstrom's line about US 
voters now being "prepared to put the brakes on their enthusiasm for 
Obama." The daily quotes the experts as suggesting "in the end it 
may fall to the super delegates to determine the outcome of race for 
the White House" between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Still, 
Tuesday's victories had undoubtedly given Clinton a "great deal of 
momentum." For the first time, "voters are saying, maybe we should 
think twice" about Obama, Hagstrom stressed. He also explained the 
Iraq War may be one of the reasons why Clinton can bank on the 
support of the Latino voters much more than Obama: Many Latinos are 
soldiers in Iraq, and they and their families "want someone in the 
White House who supports the troops." Unlike Clinton, however, Obama 
had opposed the US-led war in Iraq from the beginning. 
 
 
President Bush Endorses McCain 
 
¶5. US President George W. Bush has endorsed John McCain's bid to win 
the White House for the Republican Party. President Bush described 
McCain as a "friend," and said he would be a "president with the 
determination to defeat an enemy." McCain said he had "admiration, 
respect and affection" for George Bush, who beat him in the 
Republican primaries in 2000. 
Meanwhile, all Austrian media continue to report on Democratic 
presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton's comeback in the Texas and 
Ohio primaries. In a commentary entitled "Showdown in the Wild 
West," one Austrian daily says her "survival plan paid off," 
successfully "averting her political dreams' premature end," says 
liberal daily Der Standard. 
 
 
Deterioration of Situation in Gaza 
 
¶6. Human rights groups and aid agencies have warned of a "dramatic 
deterioration" of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, 
which is "worse now than at any time since the Israeli occupation of 
1967." The organizations, including Amnesty International, Save the 
Children and Care International, have described Israel's blockade of 
Gaza as "illegal collective punishment." The people in Gaza have 
 
been "stripped of their dignity," which is why "hope has given way 
to despair," an aid agency representative told Austrian radio. 
Liberal daily Der Standard publishes an interview with Taghreed 
El-Khodary- journalist for the New York Times - on the situation in 
the Gaza Strip. Despite its serious loses, Hamas will emerge 
stronger from its fighting with the Israeli army, because the 
radical organization had always profited from crises, El-Khoday 
suggests. The people in Gaza are "unbelievably angry with Israel. 
They feel they are living under an occupying regime. Many feel that 
Israel has refused to give Hamas a chance. Then there are others who 
are furious both with Israel and Hamas, because they know both sides 
are playing their games: With its attacks, Hamas is trying to force 
Israel to accept a cease-fire; it wants Israel to come around and 
open the borders of the Gaza Strip; but Israel has refused to do 
so."  Many people in the Gaza Strip, the journalist points out, 
support Hamas, because they feel the organization is much closer to 
them and their daily concerns than President Mahmoud Abbas. Despite 
Israel's withdrawal of its troops from Gaza, El-Khodary believes "it 
is not over yet. Israel has pulled out, but you can still hear the 
F-16 above Gaza. They will launch more air strikes. The use of 
ground forces was merely a message for Hamas; it was Israel saying 
they can return any time to occupy the Gaza Strip." Hamas, 
meanwhile, "wants a cease-fire with Israel, but not one negotiated 
from a position of weakness." 
 
 
Tensions between Venezuela and Colombia 
 
¶7. Venezuela says it has moved thousands of troops towards its 
border with Colombia. Venezuela ordered the mobilization after 
Colombia conducted a raid into Ecuador to attack FARC rebels. In 
addition, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has threatened his 
country may impose sanctions on Colombia in response to its attack 
on FARC rebels in Ecuador. Meanwhile, the Organization of American 
States has ruled that Colombia violated Ecuador's sovereignty, but 
has stopped short of a formal condemnation, and Ecuador has also 
mobilized troops, according to ORF TV's rime time news Zeit im Bild 
I on Wednesday. 
Kilner