Federal President Heinz Fischer came to a favourable conclusion about his first year in office. The office of the federal president as an institution met with widespread acceptance in the population for being an “office of stability, balance and mutual understanding“, said Fischer in an interview granted to the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) on 5 July 2005.
The population and experts attested the Federal President an unbiased conduct of business committed to minimising conflicts.
With regard to the EU Constitution, Fischer explained that he did not think it was right to give up the whole project. An option was to make a second attempt as many parts of the draft constitution were uncontested. ■

On 7 July 2005 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) overturned a law restricting the access of foreigners to Austrian universities. Austria’s universities may no longer reject citizens of other EU Member States who were not admitted to university in their country of origin.
Minister of Education Elisabeth Gehrer granted university rectors a temporary right to impose quality-based access restrictions in disciplines excessively crowded, i.e. human, dental and veterinary medicine, psychology, biology, pharmacy, business administration and journalism. The relevant provisions were adopted by the Nationalrat (first chamber of Parliament) on 8 July 2005. Students may now be selected through competitions before admission or after an induction phase of one to two years. This decision is within the purview of the rectors.
Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel considered a qualitative selection necessary to control university access. ■

The first school reform package after abolishing the two-thirds majority requirement was passed with a two-thirds majority on 8 July 2005. One of the opposition parties, the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), voted together with the governing coalition in favour of the reform package.
It includes a five-day week at compulsory school level, more afternoon care, compulsory advanced training for teachers and re-naming the subject “Leibesübungen“ (bodily exercise) “Sport und Bewegung“ (sports and exercise). ■

After reaching an agreement with the Republic of Austria about restitution payments for losses in the NS period, the Jewish Religious Community (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde/IKG) made a first concrete move and withdrew 1,000 restitution applications to the General Settlement Fund on 8 July 2005. Efforts were being intensified to reach legal certainty in the USA, explained IKG President Ariel Muzicant.
One day earlier, a four-party motion had been submitted to Parliament to speed up payments from the General Settlement Fund to victims of the NS regime. The agreement between the Republic and the IKG was announced on 25 May 2005. The IKG receives 18.2 million euro from the General Settlement Fund.
The application committee is examining and assessing about 19,000 applications with about 200,000 individual claims. This time-consuming procedure will be completed in the course of next year. Only then can the individual restitution payments be fixed. In view of the high age of many applicants, advances should become possible for applications processed. The legal certainty demanded by Austria remains, however, a sine qua non for payments. ■

On 6 July 2005 Parliament passed two bills improving the legal situation of people with disabilities. Sign language was recognised as a language in the Constitution. Furthermore, with the Act on Equal Treatment of the Disabled a comprehensive discrimination ban was imposed protecting not only the disabled persons affected but also their relatives. In the future an Ombudsman for the Disabled will be responsible for this group. ■

In a first reaction to the terrorist attacks in London on 7 July 2005, Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel expressed the sympathy and solidarity of Austria with the victims on behalf of the federal government to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. “We condemn the coward attacks in London and wish to extend our deep sympathy and solidarity to all families affected and the British population“, said Schüssel.
Also Federal President Heinz Fischer reacted “with shock and dismay“ to the news about the horrible attacks and expressed his heartfelt condolences to the victims and their families on behalf of the Republic of Austria.
Federal Chancellor Schüssel called on the Europeans to adopted a common stance and to intensify cooperation in foreign policy. Europe would not let itself be intimidated but join forces. ■

Austrian Federal President Heinz Fischer arrived together with his wife Margit in Belgrade for a three-day official visit on 15 July 2005. The talks with the head of state of Serbia and Montenegro, Svetozar Marovic, as well as the leaders of the two Republics of Serbia and Montenegro focused inter alia on economic cooperation, the Kosovo issue, EU pre-accession and cooperation with the UN War Crimes Tribunal.
Austria would support the efforts of Serbia-Montenegro on its way to the European Union, especially during the Austrian EU Presidency, stressed Fischer. A stable and peaceful Balkan region was a major concern of Vienna. A delicate problem would be solved if war criminal Ratko Mladic was handed over to the tribunal in The Hague. ■

Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel and Slovenia’s Prime Minister Janez Jansa participated in a meeting of the heads of government of the four Visegrad states – Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland – in Budapest on 13 July 2005. These six countries form the “Regional Partnership” initiated by Austria.
The prime ministers stated that they wished to adopt a resolution on the EU budget period 2007-2013 soon. Schüssel called for reforms of EU expenditure but also on the revenue side of the Union’s budget. ■

New Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek paid a one-day official visit to Vienna on 14 July 2005. Among his meeting partners were Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel and Federal President Heinz Fischer.
The Czech Republic pinned great hopes on the forthcoming Austrian EU Presidency, underlined Paroubek. Schüssel stated that good neighbourhood with the Czech Republic was one of the priorities of Austria’s foreign policy. ■

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko emphasised during his two-day visit to Vienna (12/13 July 2005) that EU accession was the strategic goal of Ukraine. Kiev placed great hopes on Austria as the action plan between the EU and Ukraine would be evaluated for the first time during the Austrian Presidency.
In Vienna Yushchenko held inter alia talks with Federal President Heinz Fischer and Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel. Moreover, agreements on bilateral cooperation projects were reached. ■

The Organisation for Security and Coopeation in Europe (OSCE) will hold official celebrations in Vienna on 20 July 2005 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Helsinki Process. Besides incumbent OSCE Chairman, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik will participate in the event. In the preliminaries Plassnik praised the “indispensable contribution” of the OSCE. ■

The “Economic Report Austria 2005” presented by the government on 4 June 2005 confirmed Austria’s excellent economic data. “The objectives which ultimately provided impetus to Austria should also apply to Europe“, said Federal Chancellor Schüssel. He also pointed out that all projects to boost the efficiency and competitiveness had been put into practice. Austria had managed to take advantage of niches, which was evidenced by the economic success of Austrian enterprises in Eastern and South Eastern Europe. The companies had also benefited from privatisation, explained the Federal Chancellor.
Also Europe had to inspire confidence and optimism in the people, which would benefit the project of European integration. “The model Austria could set an example”, said Schüssel. Last year the Austrian economy had achieved a real growth of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of 2%, which is twice the average growth rate recorded between 2001 and 2003. “Even if Austria is the third richest country in the EU, we have to follow the example of those doing even better“, underlined the Chancellor.
Minister of Finance Karl-Heinz Grasser focused attention on Austria’s favourable economic growth. In the European context Austria was among the leaders. “The direction is right, together we have created a good foundation. The cooperation with the social partners is exemplary“, stated Grasser.
“Austria’s position as a business location is excellent“, confirmed also Minister for Economic Affairs Martin Bartenstein. “We have taken advantage of the opportunities of EU membership and the opening up of Eastern Europe and implemented the necessary structural reforms“, said Bartenstein. The export sector was Austria’s growth engine, greatly contributing to the real 2% growth in 2004. ■

Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel advocated an EU tax on international financial transactions. “It is not acceptable that every euro we need for Brussels is deducted from national budgets. We need a fundamental budget reform providing the EU with its own source of income“, stated Schüssel on 10 July 2005 in an interview with “Bild am Sonntag“ (Hamburg). The “EU tax” would not replace the netpayers’ contributions but cover a small part of the EU budget, explained the Chancellor after the Council of Ministers on 12 July 2005.
Austria will host the EU Council Presidency in the first half of 2006 and is likely to continue the negotiations about the budget 2007 to 2013, which have come to a standstill. ■

In November the federal government will launch a new programme to promote enterprises offering apprenticeship training. The government and the economic sector expect that a revised graduated premium scheme will create 1,000 to 3,000 additional apprenticeship places.
In the first year of apprenticeship training the company receives 400 euro per month, while in the second 200 euro and in the third year 100 euro are paid. An apprenticeship place is considered to have been “additionally created” when at the commencing date of a contract more apprentices are trained than on 31 December 2004. Apprentices having completed training have to be replaced by new ones. If the quality of training is not up to the standard, the annual grant can be discontinued. ■

According to the “Brand Value Study 2005” (by RNG Consult & Media Austria group) presented on 5 July 2005, Austria’s top 3 brands – Red Bull, Swarovski and Spar Österreich – maintained their top positions and even boosted their brand value by about 2 billion euro. Austria’s top 10 brands increased their value by 14% from the prior-year level to about 29 billion euro, the top 100 registered a 7.5% gain.
Austria’s leading brand Red Bull recorded a plus of almost 8 billion (21.6%) compared to the same period in 2004. Criteria for selecting the brand companies had been industry, market power, trend development, market potential and sales. ■

Since 1996 the Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Culture has awarded the Wittgenstein Prize to researches selected by an international jury for their outstanding achievements. The prize annually granted is Austria’s most renowned research award. Prize winners come from all academic disciplines, including linguists and mathematicians and physicists. In return for the generous support, the prize winners make available their expertise in the interest of science. To this end, the Wittgenstein prize winners founded a club, which, acting as a link between academia, politics, the public and the media, takes a position on topics concerning research and research policy. This year neurobiologist Barry J. Dickson and quantum physicist Rudolf Grimm were presented the prize (almost 1.5 million euro each) at a ceremony opened by Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel on 8 July 2005. In his festive speech Schüssel underlined that research was crucial for Austria’s economic competitiveness. At the same time he announced that Austria would make research a priority of the Austrian EU Presidency. The expenditure on research and development had risen steadily, from 2.5 billion euro in 1995 to currently about 6 billion euro. Only recently had the government decided to increase the research budget by 1 billion euro by 2010.
Dickson was born in Melbourne (Australia) in 1962. He came to Vienna in 1998, where he headed a team at the Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), a subsidiary of the Boehringer Ingelheim group, for five years. In 2003 he was recruited as a “senior scientist" by Josef Penninger for the new Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW). Dickson will become head of the IMP in 2006. He is an internationally renowned expert researching the functions of the genes of fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster). Drosophila is one of the most important model organisms of genetic researchers. Dickson’s research goals focus on the development process of the nervous system and how it is correctly “wired”. Since about 70% of the fly’s genes can be found also in human beings, the research objective is to create models giving insight in the functioning of human diseases.
Rudolf Grimm was born in Mannheim (Germany) in 1961. He became a professor at Innsbruck University in 2000, since 2003 he has also been director of the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. His research focus is on ultracold quantum substance, the behaviour of gas atoms and molecules at exceptionally low temperatures (key word: Einstein-Bose condensate). The findings of Grimm’s partly groundbreaking experiments are important for basic research. However, the state of suprafluidity, in which for example liquids flow without friction loss, is also of great interest to engineers and technologists. In 2004 the research findings of Grimm’s team were put on the “Breakthrough-of-the-Year List” of the US journal “Science“.
At the same occasion, the START prizes (each worth 1.2 million euro) were granted to five young talented scientists, all in their mid-thirties. The mathematician Michael Hintermüller from Linz dedicates himself at Graz University to “fringe” problems, i.e. fractures, cracks and fissures. His findings are relevant for applications e.g. in medicine and material technology.
Alexandra Lusser from Lienz does research at the Biocentre of Innsbruck University on the wrapping of DNA in the nucleus. The significance of a wrapping factor correlates with the emergence of diseases; treatment methods are being explored at the same time.
Michael Moser from Linz does research at Vienna University into about 1000 years of Ukrainian language history in Galicia.
Archaeologist Norbert Zimmermann (Bonn) digitally documented at the Austrian Academy of Sciences Rome’s largest catacomb (Domitilla) and analysed its topographical development also with methods of art and social history.
Matthias Horn, who was born in Karl-Marx-Stadt/Chemnitz (Germany), is active at the Vienna Department for Microbial Ecology. He will use the prize money to investigate the pathogenity of chlamydia, mean cells hiding intracellularly. Based on his findings about the assimilation behaviour of these pathogens, he wants to develop new therapy approaches. ■

The Bregenz Festival (from 20 July to 21 August 2005) celebrates its debut on Lake Constance under festival manager David Pountney with Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “The Troubadour“. The opera “Maskerade“ by Danish composer Carl Nielsen marks the 60th anniversary of the summer festival at Festspielhaus. The Vienna Symphonic Orchestra and the Danish National Orchestra are highlights of the orchestra concerts. The operetta “The Merry War“ by Johann Strauß is shown at Kornmarkt. The contemporary festival section “KAZ – Kunst aus der Zeit“ (art of the time) presents for example Olga Neuwirth’s latest work about models as “sleepers of terror” (“Schläfer des Terrors“). At Martinsplatz Franz Molnar’s bitter comedy “Liliom“ is performed. The festival is opened by Federal President Heinz Fischer. Foreign guests are Swiss Federal President Samuel Schmid and Israeli Minister of Education and Culture Limor Livnat. The Austrian government is represented by Vice-Chancellor and Minister of Transport Hubert Gorbach, Minister of Health Maria Rauch-Kallat and Secretary of State for the Arts Franz Morak. ■

This is the first year in which the Cardinal König Art Fund grants the Cardinal König Art Prize for Visual Arts (prize money: 10,000 euro). Hans Schabus (born in Carinthia in 1970 and living in Vienna) was unanimously selected winner of the year 2005. The award pays tribute to the artist’s oeuvre, notably the prize-winning entry in the competition, which is also shown at the Venice Art Biennial as Austria’s contribution, i.e. “Das letzte Land“ (The Last Land). The Fund set up by the Archbishopric Salzburg in 2004 pays homage to a work, which – according to the jury – represents “a position vital for contemporary, artistic and social discourse”. The prize will be awarded on 3 August 2005 in Salzburg. ■

Thomas Daniel Schlee, festival manager of the “Carinthian Summer”, was granted the title “Officier dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres“ by Minister of Culture of the Republic of France Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres on 30 June 2005. The insignia of the distinction for meritorious service to French art and culture were presented to Schlee at the French Embassy in Vienna.

“Mozart 2006 – Austria Celebrates the Genius“, the film globally promoting the Mozart Year by Austrian film director Curt Faudon has been granted the Golden Camera Award at the US International Film and Video Festival 2005 in Los Angeles. The film spotlights the authentic Mozart venues in Salzburg and Vienna and covers the entire life of Mozart from his birth in Salzburg to his triumphs in Vienna. It ends with a lavish party celebrating the 250th birthday of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart. ■

Österreichische Galerie at Belvedere Palace shows the exhibition “Nordic Dawn“ (closing on 2 October 2005). The emergence of modernism in Finnish painting is illustrated with about 70 key works created between 1890 and 1920. After about seven centuries under Swedish rule and one century under Russian government, the spirit of the 19th century characterised by the search for a national identity began to be felt also in Finland, culminating in the country’s independence in 1917. Visual arts made a substantial contribution to developing an independent Finnish identity. Outstanding artists were e.g. Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Väinö Blomstedt, Ellen Thesleff, Wilho Sjöström, Pekka Halonen, Magnus Enckell, Ilmari Aalto and Alvar Cawen. The exhibition curated by Stephan Koja is rounded off with a documentary, in which the venues of artistic creation in Helsinki (artists’ cafes, studios) and in the captivating countryside partly dissolve into paintings – an impressive juxtaposition of the original and the work of art. ■

Wolf Harranth, 64, winner of this year’s Austrian State Prize for Literary Translation, receives the Astrid Lindgren Translation Prize. The prize granted by the international translators’ association FIT will be presented at this year’s FIT world congress in Tampere (Finland) on 7 August 2005. Harranth receives the award for his oeuvre as a translator of children’s and youth literature, e.g. of classics like Kipling’s “The Jungle Book“, Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn“ and the audiobook of Wilde’s “The Canterville Ghost“. After completing his English studies, the outstanding translator and author had also been active as a publisher and reader of manuscripts. For three decades he was also a reporter of “Radio Austria International“, the foreign service of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF). ■

Until 18 September 2005 it is possible to steal a glance at the unique inventories of the Habsburg “Cabinets of Art and Wonders” at the Museum of Art History (KHM) in Vienna. The Cabinets were merged on establishing the Royal and Imperial Court Museum for Art History, which opened at Vienna’s Ringstraße in 1891. About 70 exquisite exhibits are displayed. The cabinets of artefacts and curiosities emerging in Europe in the 16th century were predecessors of today’s museums. They did not only collect works of art created by man but also rare objects considered extraordinary for the material used or their appearance – goldsmith’s works, stone-cutting works, objects from ivory and bronze created by eminent artists, scientific tools, automatic machines, clocks and games, exotica, curios and naturalia like ostrich eggs and unicorns. Art chambers were conceived as a type of micro-cosmos reflecting the macro-cosmos of the world, the real “art cabinet of God“. ■

With Franz Lehár’s “The Merry Widow“, the Mörbisch Lake Festival (Lake Neusiedel/ Burgenland) will attract an audience of about 220,000 by the end of August. The operetta will be broadcast by the TV station ORF 2 on 20 August 2005 and is likely to be watched by more than half a million TV viewers. The festival is one of the Burgenland’s major economic factors. About 35 million euro will flow into the region in 2005. The Lake Festival is supported by the Burgenland’s regional government with a total budget of 10 million euro and by the federal government with 230,000 euro. The remaining difference is covered by the festival’s revenue (e.g. tickets, sponsoring). ■

With a breathtaking premiere of Lehár’s “The Count of Luxembourg“ (Bo Skovhus is playing the lead), the Vienna “KlangBogen“ Festival starts out into the musical summer season. The festival ending on 4 September 2005 offers musical theatre and concerts of superior quality, including a performance by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta. Other highlights are Julian Rachlin, Rudolf Buchbinder, Wiener KammerOrchester with “Mozart & Haydn“, Giora Feidmann, as well as the series “Schubert’s piano music“ and “Beethoven & Boccherini“. ■

The Tyrolian festival in Erl, a village bordering with Upper Bavaria, offers an ambitious programme under festival manager and conductor Gustav Kuhn (until 28 August 2005): a Rossini special, Mahler symphonies, Accademia Pianistica, Strauss’ “Elektra“ and Wagner’s four-part and 16-hour “Ring of the Nibelungs“. Kuhn will present it within 24 hours starting on 22 July 2005. There will be a four-day version for those needing more sleep. ■

While the German-Jewish family comedy “Alles auf Zucker!“ by director Dani Levy born in Switzerland became the winner of this year’s German Film Prize, one of the two film prizes in silver went to Hans Weingartner (Vorarlberg) for his film “Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei“ criticising current social trends. The other prize was awarded to Marc Rothemund for “Sophie Scholl – The Final Days“. The best male supporting actor had also played in Weingartner’s film: Burghart Klaußner received a “Golden Lola” for the role a kidnapped entrepreneur. ■

With the revision of the provisions governing the Special Federal Sport Fund, sport has reached its goal. After abolishing the funding ceiling, three percent of the sales revenues of the Austrian Lotteries per year but in any case no less than 40 million euro will go to sport. The Austrian sport sector benefited from this year’s extraordinary sales result with a plus of 6.8 million euro – an unprecedented amount of money. “We managed to find a modern and efficient way of financing sport. Although government financial aid was cut in all sectors, sport is the only public sphere becoming a winner”, Secretary of State for Sport Karl Schweitzer was pleased to announce. A 100% increase in subsidies allocated to the special sport associations and a “no” to the “watering can” principle are a tremendous success for sport. Now it is the top priority of the Austrian Federal Sport Organisation to significantly boost the quality and professionalism in the sport system. Objective criteria and clear targets have been defined. 50% will be invested in hiring competent trainers and coaches, while the improvement of infrastructure and the realisation of a large-scale campaign for young talents will each be funded with 25%. In view of this campaign, the staff level will have to be stepped up considerably. In 2005 as much as 278 jobs in sport are financed (including 208 jobs for trainers and coaches). In 2005 and 2006 the special sport associations will be prioritised by sport financing. At a later stage subsidies will also be granted to other sport organisations. ■

On 10 July 2005 Secretary of State for Sport Karl Schweitzer inaugurated together with the President of ASKÖ Vienna Beate Schasching the new roller-skating sport facility at the Schmelz sport centre. The sport infrastructure was financed inter alia with subsidies of the federal government. Schweitzer had promised financial aid of a total of 150,000 euro for the roller-skating and American football facility already in 2003. The event was attended by professional in-line skater Lisi Schrenk and Member of the Provincial Government Heidi Schmalenberg. At this festive event state awards were presented to honorary officials of ASKÖ Vienna (an umbrella organisation of sport clubs). ■

On 6 July 2005 the 117th General Assembly of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Singapore selected the venue of the 2012 Olympic Summer Games. At 1.49 p.m. IOC President Jacques Rogge announced the winner. With 54:50 votes, London won a victory over Moscow, New York, Madrid and Paris. In 2012 London will become the world’s first city hosting the Olympic Games for the third time (previously in 1908 and 1948). ■

According to Red Bull chief Dietrich Mateschitz, the project “new Spielberg“ will consist only of the “Österreichring"”(Austrian race track) and car test tracks. The original plan of an air academy has been given up. Construction would start next year at the earliest date possible provided that the project application was successfully filed within the next twelve months. Mateschitz also explained that a joint venture with synergy partners was planned like in the first project. “Volkswagen has confirmed its participation. Very positive talks are held with Magna, KTM and others. ■

Tyrolian cyclist Georg Totschnig won the 14th stage of the 92nd Tour de France celebrating the first stage victory of an Austrian in 74 years. ■