At invitation by Federal Chancellor Schüssel, the 12th meeting of the international Board of Trustees of the Austrian Reconciliation Fund took place at the Federal Chancellery on 5 December 2005. The last meeting before liquidating the Fund by year-end 2005 was held in the presence of high-ranking representatives of the German foundation “Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft“ (“Remembrance, Responsibility and Future”). The Fund endowed with 436 million euro has made payments to a total of about 132,000 eligible persons. It had been established in December 2000 with financial resources from the Federal Republic, the Länder and the Austrian economy to pay compensation to former slave and forced labourers on the territory that constitutes present-day Austria. The green light for the payments was given on 31 June 2001 after dismissal of the last two class-action lawsuits pending against Austria and Austrian enterprises for forced labour before US courts. After having been extended twice, the deadline for compensation applications finally ended on 31 December 2003. In accordance with a resolution of the Board of Trustees of 20 December 2004, the Fund spent the remaining money on humanitarian projects in the six Central and Eastern European countries of the partner organisations. Additional humanitarian aid, e.g. medicine, medical treatment and allowances for the basic cost of living (heating material, clothes), was granted to former slave and forced labourers in more than 100,000 cases. ■

Federal Chancellor Schüssel considered it a “very positive first step towards final legal certainty“ that the last pending restitution lawsuit of NS victims against the Republic of Austria had been discontinued. Experts were examining legal certainty, and so far only the information of a lawyer had been obtained: “We have every intention of dealing with the matter as speedily as possible”. Some lawsuits against Austrian companies were still pending. Since he was not an expert for US law, he could not tell how long this would take. But as soon as final legal certainty was guaranteed, the Republic would contribute its share to the Restitution Fund as agreed upon. Then immediate payments could be made to the NS victims. ■

On 22 November 2005 the Council of Ministers passed a resolution to grant additional financial aid of 1 million euro to the earthquake victims in Pakistan. The funds will come from the budget for development cooperation and will be used predominantly for buying winter clothes and winter equipment. ■

On 2 December 2005 Federal President Heinz Fischer received President of Rwanda Paul Kagame at the presidential residence in Hofburg (Vienna) for official talks. Kagame, who had come to Vienna to attend the UNIDO General Assembly, gave an account of the political situation in his country and the activities of the African Union (AU) to the Austrian President. Fischer informed his guest about the projects of the Austrian EU Presidency and the developments in the European Union. Another item on the agenda was the persisting crisis in the Sudanese region of Darfur. Kagame and Fischer also discussed issues concerning the Austrian Development Cooperation (EZA) programme, in which Rwanda is a main target country. About 800 delegates from 171 states participated in the one-week UNIDO General Assembly in Vienna. ■

Parting Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski was received by President Fischer with military honours in Vienna on 2 December 2005. The guest, who also visited the exhibition “The New Austria” at Belvedere Palace will hand over his office to his designated successor Lech Kaczynski on 23 December 2005. ■

Austrian Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel met with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and President Wladimir Putin in Moscow on 2 December 2005. Russia was “one of the most important strategic partners” of the European Union, said Schüssel. “Fresh impetus” should be given to the partnership and cooperation agreement with Moscow ending in 2007. Fradkov, former ambassador of his country to the EU in Brussels, welcomed the visit of the Austrian Chancellor on the eve of the Austrian EU Presidency. Fradkov called for “further strengthening the relations” to Austria, a country that was an “important and promising partner in Europe”.
Before starting their official talks, Russian President Putin presented a copy of the Austrian State Treaty to the Austrian Chancellor. Putin referred to this document as the “birth certificate of Austria’s sovereignty”. Schüssel thanked Putin for his “personal commitment” allowing Austria to borrow the original State Treaty from Russia for some months. It had been the “absolute highlight” of Austria’s anniversary year 2005. Almost every tenth Austrian had admired “this birth certificate of the free, fully independent and sovereign Austria” in the exhibitions at Belvedere and Schallaburg. Putin described the relations between Russia and Austria as “very well developed”. The exchange of commodities had reached an all-time high. Both the Russian economy and the Austrian direct investment were growing. Since the relations with the EU were a priority for Russia, he hoped for a beneficial cooperation during the Austrian EU Presidency. Schüssel stated that Austria wanted to cooperate intensively with Russia in the areas of energy, environment, security and transport during the six months of the Austrian EU Presidency. The fate of the UN and the OSCE were also crucial subjects. Furthermore, Austria would require Russia’s expertise in international affairs, e.g. Iran, the Middle East, Afghanistan or the Balkans. The Chancellor also praised the favourable economic development of Russia, where Putin’s influence could be felt. Economy and trade had grown, while poverty had declined. ■

17 Central and Eastern European heads of government gathered for a summit meeting of the Central European Initiative (CEI) in the health resort Piestany (Slovakia) on 24 and 25 November 2005. Austria was represented by Federal Chancellor Schüssel. Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda hosted the event as the CEI is currently chaired by the Slovak Republic. One of the main goals of the CEI is to bring the Eastern and South Eastern European CEI member states closer to the EU and to support them in preparing EU entry. In May 2004 seven CEI states joined the Union. Bratislava is of the opinion that the CEI should play a vital role in passing on EU accession experience to the Eastern neighbours of the EU. In this context, the concerns of Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria striving for EU membership in early 2007 are a priority. The actual accession date will be fixed during the Austrian EU Presidency.
Almost simultaneously with the summit, a CEI economic forum was held in Bratislava, in which Minister for Economic Affairs Bartenstein participated among others. Representatives of the economy, investors and of international organisations like the OECD, UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe), FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations) discussed “Reforms – a key to competitiveness“.
The CEI was founded in 1989. Its members are Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Italy, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Austria, Poland, Romania, Serbia-Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Hungary and Belarus. ■

After a meeting with his French counterpart Michele Alliot-Marie in Vienna on 1 December 2005, Minister of Defence Günther Platter highlighted the peace mission on the Balkans as well as civilian and military cooperation. In the framework of this Europe-wide cooperation, which is to be implemented during the Austrian EU Presidency, the EU would “become even more visible as a joint force”. ■

Minister of Finance Karl-Heinz Grasser presented the priorities of Austria’s six-month EU Presidency starting on 1 January 2006 in a meeting with Italian Minister of the Economy Giulio Tremonti on 1 December 2005. “We are convinced that we have to give a clear answer to the 90 million unemployed people in Europe“. Austria would prepare a proposal for more growth and employment in Europe. The support of the European Investment Bank (EIB) was sought. Under the Austrian Presidency, the European Commission would submit an evaluation of the national action plans to implement the so-called “Lisbon Strategy”. Another item high on the agenda of the Austrian EU Presidency was the EU financial plan 2007-2013. The incumbent British Presidency was supported in its efforts to draw up an agreement on the financial plan still in this year. If this was impossible, Austria would try to reach a consensus of the Council and subsequently of the Parliament and the Commission during its Presidency to ensure “that we can act on a safe financial basis”. Grasser informed that another priority was to cut red tape to provide a better setting for competition. Tax issues would be another main concern of the Austrian Presidency. The Austrian model of a reform of value-added tax introduced on 1 January 2003 had been very successful and copied by Germany. ■

Austrian NGOs consider the fact that Austria will take over the EU Presidency in 2006 an “opportunity for environmental policy”. Green-peace, Global 2000 and the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) requested that subjects like climate protection, genetic engineering and transport should be addressed during the Presidency. Global 2000 wanted the Austrian EU Presidency to prevent that Europe would definitely embark on a future of nuclear energy after adoption of the 7th Framework Programme for Research. Climate protection should be the top priority. With regard to this subject, Greenpeace requested to stop financial aid for nuclear power. This should be brought up for discussion at a Euratom conference. The WWF stated that detailed demands to the EU and the Austrian Presidency could be formulated only after the climate conference in Montreal. However, immediate and drastic measures had to be taken to achieve the goal of keeping the average temperature increase below two degrees Celsius postulated by the scientific community.
In the field of genetic engineering, Greenpeace demands a re-orientation of risk assessment for newly licensed GMO varieties. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) should conduct its own series of experiments to examine the toxicity of genetically manipulated plants. Greenpeace and Global 2000 demanded that GMO cultivation should be declared incompatible with conventional agriculture at the conference on genetic engineering scheduled for April 2006.
Global 2000 requested that Austria should address its role as a transit country at the Council of Transport Ministers in March 2006. Greenpeace requested that the planned “Euro 5 emission standards” should impose stricter limits. In the opinion of the WWF, the negotiations on the proposed new legislation concerning the European chemicals policy REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals), a revision of the European sustainability strategy and measures against the loss of biodiversity were of paramount importance for environmental policy. Last but not least, the plans to intensify shipping on the Danube should be further developed on the basis of ecological considerations. ■

Together with the City of Vienna and Österreich-Werbung (the Austrian Tourist Board), the tourist organisations of the City and Land of Salzburg formed “ARGE Mozart 2006”, an association for temporary cooperation. Thanks to an international marketing campaign, hotel nights in the city of Salzburg are to increase by 5% to two million. Now up to seven million tourists visit the city of Salzburg annually. 10% more visitors are expected in the Mozart Year. This will give Salzburg another big boost as a city of culture and music. ■

At the conference of EU ministers on the theme “Trans¬forming Public Services“ in Manchester (UK) the EU Member States signed a declaration focusing on some political key areas: effective e government for all citizens, electronic procurement as well as electronic identities and documents. Austria played a major role in drafting and preparing the ministerial declaration. Secretary of State for the Arts and Media Morak stressed the necessity of dealing with the topic of the information society and its benefit for the citizens. “To achieve a European added value all digital documents issued at national level should for example be recognised in the entire EU”. In cooperation with the European Commission, a number of events will be prepared during Austria’s EU Presidency. Austria would give priority to e-government and e-content. “People have to feel the advantages of a united Europe. The European added value must become clearly visible also in the area of e government“, said Morak. ■

Secretary of State for the Arts and Media Morak met with British Culture Secretary Tessa Jowel and his Finnish counterpart Tanja Karpela in London on 29 November 2005 to discuss the projects of the Austrian and Finnish Presidencies and to clarify positions. The official programme included a meeting with Minister for Creative Industries and Tourism James Purnell, who is also responsible for media and information technology (IT). Moreover, Morak met with the Director General of the British Council and representatives of the UK’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The EU directive “Television without Frontiers” and the Communication of the European Commission likely to be issued in January 2006 as well as the creative industries were the main items discussed with Purnell. The Austrian Secretary of State for Arts and Media underlined that “issues concerning creative industries and e content would be a consistent thread running through the Austrian EU Presidency“. A position paper covering the creative industries was to be drafted during the period. This had inter alia been envisaged in the action plan for cooperation in the field of culture for the period 2005/06 adopted during the Dutch Presidency. Morak’s discussions with his counterparts Jowel and Karpela focused on the digitalisation of the cultural heritage, the programme planned for the “Year of Intercultural Dialogue” scheduled for 2008 and the “Citizens for Europe” programme. Another subject addressed at the meeting was the ratification of the UNESCO Convention. ■

The association “Gabriel – Musical Theatre, Film and Media“ from Klagenfurt was awarded the Prize for Merits in Cross-Border Cultural Work in Vienna on 22 November 2005. At the award ceremony, Secretary of State for the Arts and Media Morak highlighted the bilingual activities of the association and its programmatic focus on neighbouring countries, which was of crucial importance in the debates on EU enlargement and reforms. The association under the artistic management of Gabriel Lipuš closely cooperates with artists and cultural institutions in the Alpine and Adriatic region. A special concern of the initiators was to maintain and disseminate the linguistic and cultural diversity in the Alpine and Adriatic region through the medium “radio play – art radio“. Other activities of the association focus on the traditional music of the region as well as on contemporary music. Gabriel commissions for example (composition) work in the area of jazz and classical music and arranges for premiers. In 2005 the prize, with which Morak wishes “to enhance the visibility of exemplary activities of cross-border cultural work“, was awarded for the fifth time. Former prize-winners were the Egon Schiele Art Centrum Cesky Krumlov (2001), the associations Rotor (2002) and Sunnseiten (2003) as well as Kulturbrücke Fratres (2004). ■

As the chairwoman of the private foundation Thyssen Bornesmisza Art Contemporary (T-B A21), Francesca Habsburg presented the video installation “Küba” by Kutlug Ataman, which will travel up the Danube in a “Trans-European journey” from Istanbul to Vienna between April and July 2006. During the journey, the work of contemporary art will enter into dialogue with other artistic and cultural projects in Eastern Europe. Its destination is an exhibition in Vienna. “Küba“ is the name of a district of huts in Istanbul. The artist and filmmaker Kutlug Ataman (born in Istanbul in 1961) succeeded in gaining access to this closed community. Within a period of two years, he created 40 video testimonies of people living in Küba. In Constanta (Romania) the monitor installation consisting of 40 pieces will be loaded on the cargo boat “Negrelli“. It will then go on to Rousse (Bulgaria), Belgrade and Novi Sad (Serbia), Vukovar (Croatia), finally to Budapest (Hungary), Bratislava (Slovakia) and Vienna (Austria). During stops of several days selected local artists will be involved in the project. Focusing on the theme raised by Ataman, their works will explore issues like borders, fringe groups and minorities from a local perspective. The range of projects covers performances, films and discursive work. As curator Daniela Zyman stated, the “complex history of European minorities should unfold” during this journey.
Secretary of State for the Arts and Media Morak stated at the presentation that the project on the boat, which travelled “against the current”, was an important contribution to the discussion about Europe. He quoted Nobel Prize Laureate Elias Canetti, who had been closely linked with Austrian literature and who had said about his place of birth in Bulgaria: “In Rousse the rest of the world was called Europe. And when somebody went up the Danube to Vienna, they said he was going to Europe“. Morak emphasised his consistent cooperation with the Central and Eastern European countries since 2000 and reminded of exhibitions like “Arteast 2000+“ in Innsbruck curated by Zdenka Badovinac (2001), and “In Search of Balkania“ created in cooperation with Eda Cufer, Roger Conover of MIT Press and Peter Weibel at the Neue Galerie Graz (2002), as well as ViennAfair 2005, in which Eastern European institutions had participated. As Morak also pointed out, Ataman’s work was a “project that explored borders, raised the awareness of borders, while crossing them. Especially against the backdrop of the forthcoming Austrian EU Presidency, the Year of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Sigmund Freud, I consider this work an important contribution to the debate on Europe by artists“. ■

Composer, organist and conductor Peter Planyavsky received the 2005 Prize for Merits in Music in Vienna on 28 November 2005. Planyavsky was one of the most interesting and versatile personalities in the field of music in Austria, said Secretary of State for the Arts and Media Franz Morak. He had succeeded in changing and modernising the overall image of church music. New Music, innovative elements and surprising, partly experimental phrases embedded in familiar patterns were the characteristics of his methodology. Again and again he managed to amaze, to surprise or even to shock. Peter Planyavsky, born in Vienna in 1947, has held a professorship for organ, improvisation and liturgical organ play at the University of Music in Vienna since 1980 and has headed the Department for Church Music since 1996. As a trained organ builder he had also participated in building the Franz Schmidt organ in Perchtoldsdorf near Vienna. ■

The Horst Bienek Prize for Lyric Poetry 2005 goes to the poet Alfred Kolleritsch (born in Graz in 1931),who has won acclaim for narrative and lyric works like “Die grüne Seite“ and “Absturz ins Glück“. Alfred Kolleritsch was entranced over the process of finding words for the world, often originating in places and images of his native Styria and his texts attest to this restless amazement, stated the jury. In 1958 the author became a co-founder of the Graz-based “Forum Stadtpark“ movement. Since 1960 he has been the publisher of the literary magazine “manuskripte“, which has inter alia presented works by Elfriede Jelinek, Peter Handke and Gerhard Roth. ■

The Austrian Art Sponsoring Prize Maecenas, which since 1989 has been granted every year countrywide in cooperation with the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF), was conceived as an award paying tribute to companies sponsoring art projects which would not be realised without their support. The focus is on enterprises in the Länder with outstanding achievements in art and culture sponsoring. In 2005 competition entries registered a record level. 188 companies applied with 214 projects. The budget of the projects submitted totalled about 6.4 million euro. The Maecenas Prize was awarded in four categories: best newcomer, the best project of small and medium-sized enterprises, the best concept and the best media project. Most of the entries in the competition (more than 50%) came from small and medium-sized enterprises. In this category the prize went to Brandner Schiffahrt GmbH, on whose ship the last part of Dante’s “Divine Comedy” had been produced in the framework of the Melk summer festival in 2005. For ten years this company has also supported other projects on the Danube, e.g. the “Sound Cloud”. This year three additional distinctions in each category have been granted. In the category “art and media” homage was paid to Mobilkom for its commitment to the Viennale film festival. To mark its 100th anniversary, Montafonerbahn AG had initiated an art competition to find the best design for railway stations and stops. With its exhibition “Movable Elements: Shapes of the Kinetic”, Roche Diagnostics GmbH was selected as the best art sponsoring newcomer ■

The complete renovation of Palais Mollard – which had accommodated the Museum of the Land of Lower Austria until 1999 – has been the largest building project of the Austrian National Library (ÖNB) in the recent past. After the palace had been remodelled for two and a half years, it now houses the Globe Museum, the Esperanto Museum, the Collection of Artificial Languages such as Ido, Volapük or Starck¬deutsch and the Music Collection of the Austrian National Library. The two museums now boast state-of-the-art and visitor-friendly premises. The music collection does not only have adequate storage capacity for its precious objects but also has a new reading room offering users optimal facilities. The Globe Museum of the ÖNB is unique in the world as it exhibits not only globes of the earth and celestial globes, but also globes of the moon and of some planets. The music collection includes numerous valuable autographs of famous composers like Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Bruckner and Schönberg. Together with music prints, books, records, sound carriers, they are made available to researchers with the aid of today’s digital technologies. ■

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s artistic innovations cannot be separated from his combat “against social exclusion, for political freedom and his support for the destitute”, said Vienna’s mayor Michael Häupl. As a member of the Freemason lodge “New Crowned Hope”, Mozart also fought for these ideas, even facing great personal risk. On the occasion of Mozart’s 250th birthday anniversary, Peter Sellars organises the festival “New Crowned Hope“, in which numerous artists will present their projects next autumn (musical theatre and dance, film, concerts, visual arts, architecture). They come from countries where people are threatened by genocide, civil war and its aftermath and where the readiness to conduct negotiations, mercy, fantasy are “the only hope”, stated Sellars. These young artists with their humanitarian message are soul mates of Mozart, believing that the world may be changed by striving for beauty. ■

Secretary of State for the Arts and Media Morak presented the Austrian State Prize for Photography to Friedl Kubelka on 21 November 2005. Her portraits were described as “being characterised by dealing with time”, and this was reflected in the works impressively. The members of the jury were Monika Faber, Michael Mauracher and Harry Weber. In 1991 Kubelka had founded her own “School of Artistic Photography“ in Vienna. ■

In its fourth quarterly meeting on 29 November 2005 the decision-making body of Top Sport Austria (TSA) pledged to grant subsidies amounting to 437,000 euro. 217,000 euro are earmarked for the “Top Sport” promotion programme, 188,000 euro are allocated to “Olympia“, while 32,000 euro go to so-called “Hope“ projects. Thus Austria’s federal special sport associations have been granted a total of 2,679,000 euro this year. Secretary of State for Sports Schweitzer was pleased about this favourable result: “The projects approved are an optimal basis for the success of our athletes at national and international level“. Top Sport Austria supports athletes even if they are temporarily unable to deliver a top performance due to an injury. Claudia Heill, who had suffered a serious setback in 2005 due to cruciate ligament injuries and operations of both knees, was granted 5,000 euro for rehabilitation. Schweitzer thanked TSA manager Matthias Bogner for the successful cooperation, who will turn over business to his successor Karin Glatt at the end of this year. ■

At invitation by Secretary of State Schweitzer, Deputy President of the General Presidency of Youth Welfare of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Nawaf Bin Faisal Bin Fahad Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud came for a two-day official visit to Vienna. Reasons for his visit were the signing of a bilateral cooperation agreement as well as the intensification of cooperation in sports between the two countries. Besides talks with Secretary of State Schweitzer, the official programme also focused on meetings with President of the Austrian Olympic Committee Leo Wallner as well as ÖFB head Friedrich Stickler. With a view to a possible cooperation with the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB), Schweitzer and Stickler highlighted the great importance of football in Austria, the forthcoming EURO 2008 and the “Challenge Pro¬ject” as well as a possible friendly game between the Austrian and Saudi football teams. The sport delegates from Saudi Arabia were also interested in the football summer training camps managed by Austria in a highly successful way. The cooperation agreement also covers intensified collaboration in areas like sport facilities infrastructure, sport sciences, sport medicine, anti-doping as well as increased exchange of trainers and athletes. In the future expert delegations of the two countries will exchange recommendations and information on opportunities regarding technology, coordination as well as youth work. ■

The “Spark7 slam tour“ offers language workshops, an eventful accompanying programme as well as a pupils’ magazine project to students of 110 schools. A day at school will be dedicated to sports, languages and media. About 400 pupils from four schools in Hartberg participated in the event ushering in this year’s “Spark7 slam tour” organised in the framework of the “Fit for Austria” campaign in 2005/06. “As one can see, sport is great fun for children. And this is precisely how we want to motivate as many kids as possible to practise life-long sport and to get into contact with regional sport clubs“, stressed Schweitzer at the opening ceremony. In every political district of Austria an educational centre or school is selected. The activities are integrated into the curriculum. Not only the member associations of the sport federations ASKÖ, ASVÖ and SPORT¬UNION will reap a benefit from this programme, but also numerous schools and regional media partners. ■