Cablegate: Austrian Media Highlights: October 19, 2007

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SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: October 19, 2007

Online Searches May Be Illegal

1. Only a day after the SPOe-OeVP coalition reached swift agreement
on giving police greater powers to search personal computers online,
critics are suggesting the new bill may violate constitutional
rights. According to semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung, one
specialist in constitutional law, Bernd-Christian Funk, said the
government seemed not to be aware of the fact that they were opening
a "Pandora's Box," as he put it. The government is to appoint an
expert group to examine the technical and legal aspects of allowing
police to use the spy-ware in cases of suspected serious crime and
terrorism.

Molterer: Open Labor Markets More Competitive

2. Finance Minister and Vice-Chancellor Wilhelm Molterer from the
People's Party has emphasized Austria has to open up its labor
market faster if it wants to stay competitive. Austria and Germany
put restrictions on access to labor markets ahead of the last EU
enlargement round in 2004. Now, Austria is facing an acute shortage
of skilled workers, according to semi-official daily Wiener Zeitung.
Molterer said the new European Union member states in Eastern Europe
could not be expected to permanently endorse what he called a "one
way street philosophy." Instead, Austria would have to be "open to
two way traffic," as he put it. A few weeks ago the head of AMS, the
Austrian Employment Agency, warned that the country would need more
foreign skilled workers next year. He said the government's 800 work
permits for workers in 2007 would not be sufficient to meet labor
market demands in 2008. The work permits provide exceptions to
Austria's ban on migrant workers from the newest EU member states.
Currently, the Austrian labor market will not be completely opened
to workers from new EU member countries before 2011. The Social
Democrats (SPV) have meanwhile emphasized the need to train local
workers for vacant jobs, the newspaper reports.

EU Agrees on Reform Treaty

3. European Union leaders meeting in Lisbon have approved the new
Reform Treaty, which replaces the deadlocked EU constitution
rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands tow years ago. The
Treaty aims to speed up decision making in the expanded Union, says
ORF radio early morning news Morgenjournal. It will be officially
signed in December, and then national parliaments will have to
ratify it. In a front-page report, mass-circulation daily Kurier
outlines the key aspects of the Reform Treaty: The EU Commission
will be scaled down; decision in the European Union will be made
faster; and the EU Parliament will be given more power.
Meanwhile, in an interview with centrist daily Die Presse, Austrian
Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer stressed that the Reform Treaty does
not require a nationwide referendum: "All EU treaties and accords
were ratified by the Austrian Parliament. Therefore, there is no
reason for [a popular referendum] now. I believe, the call for a
referendum is rooted in a widespread skepticism towards the EU,
which we won't be able to remedy through a vote. It is far more
important for us to wrap up the Treaty, because then we can address
the EU citizens' most burning problems - such as a more social
Europe or climate protection."

Power to the Women in the Muslim World

4. ... headlines liberal daily Der Standard, publishing a
PAS-facilitated interview with Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli, Senior
Adviser to the Secretary of State for Women's Empowerment, who
attended the Oct. 18 conference "Living together - but how?"
co-hosted by the US Embassy Vienna. Hers is a tough job, considering
the reputation of the Bush administration, particularly in the
Muslim World, the Standard suggests. Tahir-Kheli, who was born in
India, raised in Pakistan, and can look back on a long career at US
universities and in government service, is convinced nonetheless:
"The US image as the land of opportunities, where all religions and
groups live together and get their opportunities, is intact."
Ambassador Tahir-Kheli is well aware that she is working against a
stream of growing Islamism, but: "Most Muslim governments know that
[a loss of] security and stability are the price for excluding 50
percent of their population from public life. We support numerous
initiatives. We had a program in Saudi Arabia, where female students
from Jeddah University went to Jordan to do humanitarian aid work.
It was the first time that they traveled outside their country
without their fathers or brothers. Pakistan will hold elections
soon, and we're helping the civilian society with the election
campaigns." The US has remained true to itself, Tahir-Kheli argues,
despite Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. Besides, "I have worked for three
Republican administrations, Reagan, and the first and second
President Bush, and people always said Americans are naove, and
don't know what they are doing. Reagan is an actor, who falls asleep
during negotiations, etc. Today, people recognize that Communism
collapsed and that Germany was re-united during Reagan and the first
President Bush's terms of office."

Attack on Bhutto Kills over 100

5. More than 120 people have been killed and hundreds more injured
in bomb attacks on a motorcade carrying former Pakistani Prime
Minister Benazir Bhutto in Karachi. According to ORF radio's early
morning news Morgenjournal, Bhutto had just returned from eight
years of self-imposed exile. She was not hurt in the blast, but
windows in the armored vehicle she was traveling in were shattered
and a door was blown off. While some eyewitnesses said they saw a
small car explode near Bhutto's truck, others spoke of a man running
towards the motorcade and blowing himself up. Prior to her return,
there had been threats from pro-Taliban militants, the radio
continues, adding that Pakistani officials said they had warned Mrs.
Bhutto of possible attacks and advised her to postpone her return.
Meanwhile, a member of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, who was
also on the truck, placed the blame for the attacks on the
government. ORF quotes him as saying:"This is an act of terrorism
and the government. [From the moment] Benazir Bhutto had announced
she was coming they have given the impression that there will be
some attack [on her.] I think this is the total collapse of the
government of Pakistan. This is an act of terrorism not done by any
terrorist but done by the government."
Kilner

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