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TAGS: OPRC KPAO AU
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: May 30, 2008 
 
COALITION AGREES ON NEW PENSION MEASURES 
 
¶1. The coalition partners SPOe and OeVP on Thursday agreed on 
changes to the state pension system following weeks of negotiations. 
A regulation will be extended until 2013 allowing persons to retire 
early, who have contributed to the pension scheme for long years, 
but have not yet reached the official early retirement age. The 
government has also tried to come to grips with changing 
demographics and longer life expectancy. Under certain conditions, 
the official retirement age could be raised, contributions raised or 
pension benefits lowered. Austrian media also report that as of 2013 
the retirement age will most likely be raised gradually. 
 
 
 
 
 
NEW COALITION FEUD OVER EUROFIGHTER JETS 
 
¶2. The coalition partners SPOe and OeVP are once again at odds over 
the recent purchase of Eurofighter jets for the Austrian armed 
forces. The OeVP wants the SPOe Defense Minister Norbert Darabos to 
reveal the contents of a preliminary report by the Public Auditor's 
Office on the revised jet purchase contract. Darabos had claimed to 
have saved taxpayers a considerable amount of money by 
re-negotiating the contract for the planes. He told a parliamentary 
meeting he was bound by a confidentiality clause and would not 
respond to the OeVP call, which was also supported by the opposition 
parties, according to independent provincial daily Salzburger 
Nachrichten. 
 
 
SPORTS EVENTS ARE LOGICAL TERRORIST TARGETS, EXPERT WARNS 
 
¶3. In a PA-facilitated interview, US terrorism expert Peter Brookes 
discussed the potential threat of terrorist attacks during major 
sports events such as the Olympic Games or the European Soccer 
Championships with a leading Austrian daily. According to Brookes, 
"mass meetings and sports events are logical terrorism targets. 
There is a whole range of potential threats: There will always be 
people who want to use the publicity and attention of a major event 
for their own purposes. This secures them both money from people who 
support terrorism and new Jihad recruits. These dangers are real, 
which is why security experts are well advised to take the entire 
range of threats very seriously." The expert underscored that "in 
counter terrorism our two most dangerous opponents are terrorists 
and complacency." In a PAS-facilitated interview with centrist daily 
Die Presse, US terrorism expert Peter Brookes from the Heritage 
Foundation discussed the potential threat of terrorist attacks 
during major sports events such as the Olympic Games or the European 
Soccer Championships and warned against "complacency." The danger of 
terrorism "continues to exist. I consider the Taliban in Afghanistan 
a regional group, which does not pose an immediate threat to the 
United States. Likewise, Al Qaeda in Iraq is a group that operates 
on a mostly regional level. The most severe threat undoubtedly comes 
from Al Qaeda in Pakistan," Brookes argued. Still, the expert 
dismissed the suggestion the US could deploy a sizeable contingent 
of soldiers to Pakistan: "We believe that Osama bin Laden and Ayman 
Al Zawahiri are in that country. But: We need Pakistan as an ally." 
The expert's major concern in this respect is that Pakistan "has 
nuclear weapons - between 50 and 150 nuclear warheads. What would 
happen, if this arsenal fell into the hands of radical Islamist 
groups?" The US intelligence services "assume that Al Qaeda will 
continue to attempt getting their hands on weapons of mass 
destruction." In addition to such potential threats, "there are 
other disturbing developments: A kind of auto-radicalization, where 
future terrorists are provided with something like a 'do-it-yourself 
terrorism manual' so they can become active in their respective 
countries of residence. That saves the groups the risk of having to 
get their people across borders in order to infiltrate target 
countries. These people do not need passports, they know their 
environment and they do not attract attention. The terrorist groups 
avoid taking risks by having replaced direct meetings with 
online-radicalization. In addition, we should not underestimate the 
influence of bin Laden or Al Zawahiri: They serve as inspiration 
rather than becoming active themselves." 
 
 
PARALLEL OPERATION OF NABUCCO AND SOUTH-STREAM NOT DOABLE, US EXPERT 
SAYS 
 
¶4. In a PAS-facilitated digital video conference on May 29, US and 
Eastern European experts discussed the issue of energy security. 
While US expert Zeyno Baran dismissed a parallel operation of 
Nabucco and other gas pipelines, the Nabucco initiators believe 
rising demands might make the implementation of several pipelines 
feasible. In a PAS-facilitated digital video conference on May 29, 
US and Eastern European experts, discussing energy security, 
underscored the significance of the Nabucco pipeline project. Zeyno 
Baran, a leading member of the Washington Hudson Institute told 
journalists Nabucco was particularly important because it would 
deliver natural gas to European markets outside of Russian control. 
According to Baran, a key challenge to Nabucco is the Russian plan 
for the so-called South-Stream pipeline, which would have virtually 
the same route and markets as its competitor. Baran does not believe 
both systems existing side by side would be doable. In contrast, the 
Nabucco initiators believe rising demands might make the 
implementation of several pipelines feasible, as Nabucco 
spokesperson Christian Dolezal pointed out. Baran, however, warned 
that Russia was "using the energy market as a political tool. That 
is why greater transparency regarding energy issues and countries' 
participation in pipeline projects is so vitally important," said 
Baran. Meanwhile, David Pumphrey, the deputy director of the Energy 
and National Security Program at the Center for Strategic and 
International Studies (CSIS) in Washington warned that "rising oil 
prices are not a temporary phenomenon," and cited growing demands 
especially in countries like India and China. 
 
 
SARKOZY IN VIENNA TODAY 
 
¶5. French president Nicholas Sarkozy will pay a brief visit to 
Vienna today for talks with Austrian leaders. He is on a tour of 
European capitals before France takes over the rotating EU 
presidency in the second half of this year. Sarkozy will be formally 
welcomed by President Heinz Fischer and then meet with Chancellor 
Alfred Gusenbauer. Before leaving the Austrian capital he'll be 
giving a press conference in the federal chancellery ORF online news 
reports. 
 
 
PLASSNIK WELCOMES CLUSTER BOMB BAN 
 
¶6. Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik has welcomed agreement 
on a treaty to ban the use of cluster munitions, reached at a 
meeting of more than 100 nations in Dublin yesterday. Plassnik 
described the treaty as a "milestone" and the "most important 
disarmament move since the Ottawa Convention on Landmines." Austria 
has taken a leading role in the campaign to ban cluster bombs and 
was one of the first countries to adopt legislation against the 
weapons. 
Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said she is pleased about 
an agreement reached in Dublin on banning cluster bombs, which she 
described as a "milestone in the development of human rights." 
Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Plassnik emphasized that "we 
were successful in our goal of a ban on all types of cluster bombs, 
which cause unacceptable harm to civilians." Austria's Defense 
Minister Norbert Darabos (SPOe) also welcomed the news, saying 
participants are "on the right track with the Dublin resolution." 
Austria has been pushing for a wide reaching ban on the weapons for 
some time. Thus, Plassnik explained in December 2007, Austria is 
"the first nation in the world to enact a total ban on cluster 
munitions without exceptions." The process to agree on a ban on the 
use, storage, and manufacture of the weapons was begun in Oslo in 
February 2007. 
 
 
PRESSURE GROWING ON OLMERT 
 
¶7. In Israel, a senior member of the Kadima Party of Prime Minister 
Ehud Olmert has suggested that he step down because of the 
corruption allegations raised against him. Olmert denies any 
wrongdoing, but Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said the party 
should be prepared to replace their leader. She also suggested to 
"let the public decide on who will be the leader in order to rebuild 
the people's trust in the party." A recent survey has meanwhile 
revealed that more than two thirds of Israelis want their Prime 
Minister to resign, reports ORF radio early morning news in its 
Morgenjournal. 
Kilner