The Greens attack the Social Democrats
The leader of the Greens, Alexander van der Bellen, criticised the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) in
an interview published by the newsmagazine Profil.
He accused the Social Democrats of having sustained for many years a de facto "quiet coalition with the Freedom Party on foreign policy issues" and having only recently "discovered" environmental issues.
He also criticised the SPÖ's ambiguity about EU enlargement and the reluctance of some SPÖ-controlled trade unions to accept the idea of a liberalisation of Austria's labour market.
Gerhard Schröder in Austria
On Friday and Saturday, the German Chancellor was on an official visit to Austria. He held talks with President Thomas Klestil and the Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel on Saturday, but he did not meet politicians from the Freedom Party—a decision criticised by the Freedom Party Justice Minister Dieter Böhmdorfer.
Schröder stated that last year's sanctions against the People's Party-Freedom Party were justified but wished the re-establishment of good relations between Germany and Austria.
The visit also provoked controversy because of Schröder's decision to meet several opposition leaders and to participate on Friday in a meeting of an organisation close from the Social Democratic Party. During an interview for the Austrian TV ÖRF, the German social democrat referred to the late Austrian social democratic chancellor Bruno Kreisky, who governed from 1970 to 1983, as an inspiration for him.
Czech nuclear discussions go on
Discussions about the safety of the Czech nuclear plant of Temelín continue in Austria, after the German environment minister, Jürgen Trittin, announced this week that Germany will not anymore participate in the commission which had been set up by Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic.
Trittin's statement that the Czech Republic was not doing enough and putting obstacles in the way of a solution was taken up as an encouragement by many anti-nuclear activists in Austria (and particularly in the border region of Upper Austria).
The Austrian environment minister, Wilhelm Molterer, however stated that Austria would continue negotiating with the Czech Republic.
Carinthia's Slovene minority
The governor of the Land of Carinthia, Jörg Haider, provoked a new controversy when he warned publicly about what he calls the "Slovenisation" of Southern Carinthia.
The Greens have accused Haider of contradicting "the spirit... of the Charter for regional and minority languages," approved and ratified by the National assembly.
The Church, who had been indirectly accused by Haider of supporting a so-called process of "Slovenisation," firmly rejected Haider's comments as an unacceptable interference of a politician in religious and liturgical questions.
New debates on anti-Semitism in Austria
A new opinion poll conducted in April 2001 by the Austrian society for European policy (Österreichische Gesellschaft für Europapolitik) showed an apparent decline of anti-Semitism in the country. 13 percent of the surveyed thought that Austria would be better off without Jews, a significant decline compared to 1991 where 24 percent agreed with this statement.
The decline of anti-Semitic attitudes is especially pronounced among the eldest and the retired people (14 percent instead of 34 percent ten years ago) as well as the educated.
Austrian film scoops three awards at Cannes
On Sunday 20, the Austrian director Michael Haneke received the Grand Prix for his film La pianiste (The Piano Teacher, 2001) in Cannes. The two French actors Isabelle Huppert and Benoît Magimel also won awards for their roles in this film adapted from the controversial work by the great Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek.
Magali Perrault, 25 May 2001
Moving on:
Sources:
Der Standard
Die Presse
Kurier
Profil
ORF (Austrian TV)
APA (Austrian Press Agency)
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