Austria’s commitment to Europe and neutrality were the dominant themes of the official 50th anniversary celebrations of the signing of the Austrian State Treaty in the historic Marble Hall of Belvedere Palace (Vienna) on 15 May. The four signatory states had sent high-ranking representatives: Russia and France their Foreign Ministers Sergei Lavrov and Michel Barnier, Great Britain Minister of State for Europe Douglas Alexander and the USA former Senator Rudy Boschwitz. In the Palace gardens a “Party for Austria” was thrown, in which about 100,000 people participated in the course of the day.
The guests of honour and leading Austrian officials appeared on the balcony, from which on 15 May 1955 then Austrian Foreign Minister Leopold Figl (“Austria is free“) had presented the State Treaty to a cheering crowd. The Treaty restored Austria’s full sovereignty after annexation, WWII. and occupation.
In his festive speech Federal President Fischer thanked the former Allies for the liberation of Austria and the sacrifices made in this connection as well as the survival help after the war. Now Austria had “no enemies but many friends”. Fischer affirmed Austria’s clear commitment to European integration: “Austria and Europe are not opposites but complementing and supporting each another.“ The President also emphasised neutrality. It was peace-oriented and linked to a commitment to the community of values of the pluralistic-democratic states, encompassing also solidarity.
“Freedom is something incredibly precious”. We should handle it carefully, especially since it has become so natural to us”, stressed Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel in the presence of the guests of honour, the entire federal government as well as high-ranking representatives of politics, economy, culture and religious communities. Schüssel inter¬preted neutrality as a “clear mandate to pursue an active peace policy“, but also referred to the new European Constitution recently ratified by the Austrian Parliament. Austria would continue to benefit from the freedom under the State Treaty but also enjoy the new freedoms granted by the EU Constitution.
As Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik stated, the “core of neutrality remains unchanged” – no participation in wars, no foreign troops on Austrian territory, no accession to military alliances. ■

On 18 May 2005 Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel presented a comprehensive package for the victims of National Socialism, including the nullification of NS court rulings. This was not an amnesty but meant that all court rulings were in general rescinded.
After widening the scope of the Act on Victims’ Welfare, indemnification payments will also be made to persons persecuted on account of their sexual orientation or for being considered “asocial”, becoming victims of medical experiments or forcibly sterilised. Applications for restitution have to be submitted to the Ministry for Social Affairs. “Now we remedy this injustice as in the past we have addressed the injustice of the NS regime by indemnifying forced labourers and making restitution“, stressed the Chancellor. In addition, we adopted one-time payments of 500 to 1,000 euro to resistance fighters and people persecuted as well as of 300 euro to the so-called “Trümmerfrauen“ (“Rubble Women”), who helped to reconstruct.
Furthermore, the negotiations about restitution are coming to an amicable end. According to an announcement made on 19 May 2005, one of the two class-action suits still pending in the USA has been discontinued. Legal certainty being a prerequisite for payments from the Restitution Fund will be achieved only after discontinuing the last class-action suit.
An agreement between the Jewish Religious Community (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde / IKG) and the Republic of Austria seems to be likely in the near future. ■

On 11 May 2005 the Nationalrat (first Chamber of Parliament) ratified the EU Constitution with only one vote against. Schüssel described this as a “preliminary highlight” in the European unification process, stressing that citizens’ rights were strengthened and the rights of the Member States were explicitly enshrined. ■

At the third summit meeting of heads of state and government as well as foreign ministers of the 46 member countries of the Council of Europe in Warsaw on 16/17 May 2005 Austria was represented by Federal President Heinz Fischer. This was the first meeting after the end of WWII. in which almost all states of the European Continent participated.
The attendees underlined that in the future the Council of Europe should play an active role in the combat against terrorism, which is one of the major threats to democratic societies. They also pled for intensifying the fight against corruption, traffic in human beings and organised crime. However, the protection and promotion of human rights, democracy and the rule of law continued to be priorities of the Council of Europe.
Federal President Fischer stressed social aspects in his speech. It was necessary to draw the attention of the responsible players once more to the European Social Charter, adopted by the Council of Europe as early as in 1961. The Council of Europe should also “fulfil the function of Europe’s social conscience and act as an advocate of social cohesion and rights to social security“, said Fischer.
On the sidelines of the summit, the Austrian President met with his Ukrainian counterpart Victor Yushchenko. Yushchenko accepted an invitation for an official visit to Austria. ■

The UN War Crimes Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia would remain active until the “three criminals” Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic and Ante Gotovina were handed over to the court in The Hague, emphasised the Chief Prosecutor of the Tribunal, Carla Del Ponte, in her speech to the Permanent Council of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on 19 May 2005 in Vienna.
On Del Ponte’s request, the OSCE adopted a resolution to intensify cooperation with the UN Tribunal. This was a sine qua non for the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of the countries of former Yugoslavia. ■

On the occasion of her visit to the United Nations in New York on 18 May 2005, Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik met inter alia with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Plassnik advocated that the EU should be given a seat in the UN Security Council. After adoption of the new EU Constitution, the European Union was developing a common European foreign policy. It should therefore speak with one voice within the UN, stated the Foreign Minister.
In its Anniversary Year 2005 Austria also looked back on 50 years of successful UN membership. Moreover, Vienna has been a UN seat and the “security competence centre of UNO” for 25 years. With a view to fighting famine, diseases and underdevelopment, Austria would increase its development aid budget to 0.51% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2009 as a contribution towards realising global UN goals.
Plassnik also met with the Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Abe Foxman. Austria cooperates with this US human rights organisation in projects advocating tolerance and human rights education. ■

The Austrian Foreign Ministry will provide offices to developing countries not represented permanently in Vienna for the duration of large-scale conferences. The aim of this joint initiative of the Foreign Ministry and the United Nations Office in Vienna (UNOV) is to allow these countries to participate in important UN meetings and to strengthen Vienna’s role as a seat of international organisations.
This measure has been adopted to ensure “that the important issues raised by the community of nations in Vienna will be discussed on the widest possible basis”, said Plassnik. Vienna as a UN seat had “developed into a real security centre of the United Nations over the years as the focus of the Vienna-based members of the UN family has been on nuclear safety, disarmament, the combat against drugs and crime“. Plassnik stressed that the initiative should “draw the international community’s attention to Austria“. ■

Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel received the “European Taxpayers’ Prize” in Vienna on 19 May 2005. The award offered by the “Taxpayers Association of Europe“ (TAE) since 1999 is granted to personalities for outstanding achievements in supporting or realising the objectives of TAE like reducing the tax burden on citizens, cutting the red tape and preventing new taxes. Schüssel received the prize for launching tax and pension harmonisation reforms.
In his thank-you statement Schüssel highlighted Austria’s excellent economic key ratios. But the export ratio had still to be increased from currently 40 to more than 50%, while the tax ratio should decline from 40 to 35%. ■

Karl Aiginger, the new head of the Economic Research Institute (Wirtschaftsforschungs-institut/Wifo) predicted a slight recovery of the Austrian economy but did not expect a trend reversal in the Austrian labour market in the medium term. In the past five years Austria’s economy recorded a real growth of 1.6% p.a. For the next five years Wifo expects a minor acceleration of economic growth to 2.3% annually, resulting in a budget deficit of minus 0.5% of the GDP by 2009. ■

Thanks to budget cuts and unexpected additional income, the European Commission achieved a surplus of 2.7 billion euro in 2004. This reduces Austria’s contribution to the EU budget by 61 million euro. ■

The focus of Austrian direct investment has clearly shifted to South Eastern Europe in 2004. More than half of the foreign direct investment went to this region. According to the Austrian National Bank (OeNB), the total volume of 5.8 billion euro in 2004 was just under the all-time high recorded in 2000. The undisputed leader is Romania after the acquisition of Petrom by the Austrian oil group OMV with 1.7 billion euro, followed by Slovenia and Croatia with 220 million euro each. In 2004 investments declined in Poland (190 million euro), Slovakia (105 million euro) and the Czech Republic (150 million euro), while Hungary maintained its position (660 million euro).
Serbia and Montenegro reaped record investments of 150 million euro. Albania became a target of Austrian investments for the first time when Raiffeisen Zentralbank (RZB) acquired the Albanian Savings Bank (105 million euro). ■

Austria is coping well with globalisation also this year. As in 2004, the Alpine Republic ranks 9th on the “2005 Globalisation Index” issued every year by management consultant A.T. Kearney. Singapore takes the top spot, followed by Ireland, Switzerland, the USA, the Netherlands, Canada, Denmark and Swe¬den. Germany was placed 21st.
Austria achieved its best result in the category “political engagement”, ranking 2nd after Portugal. The authors of the study emphasised the signing of important international agreements and participation in UN peacekeeping missions. In the category “economic integration” Austria climbed from the 25th to the 10th rank, which is mainly due to increased direct investment. Thanks to its strong tourist sector, Austria is the no. 5 in the category “social integration”. ■

Minister of Finance Karl-Heinz Grasser announced on 13 May 2005 two innovations concerning the state-subsidised savings scheme “Zukunftsvorsorge“ (Provision for the Future). In parallel to the current system of saving up money regularly, in the future one-time deposits of up to 10,000 euro over a period of five years will become possible. Savers will be able to choose between a capital guarantee and a higher yield. According to Grasser, savings and loans with building societies will no longer have to be tied up for building or acquiring housing, but can be used for education or health-care. ■

Secretary of State for the Arts Franz Morak paid an official visit to Israel from 19 to 22 May 2005. Morak has represented Austria at important events in Israel several times in the past. In 2002 he was Austria’s first politician of the coalition government to go to Israel. In 2003 he participated in the 50th anniversary celebrations at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. Now Morak attended the opening of the Herzl Museum commemorating the lawyer, writer and journalist Theodor Herzl (1860-1904), who died 101 years ago. With his work “The Jewish State (“Der Judenstaat“ 1896), Herzl became the founder of theoretical Zionism and laid the ideological foundation of the state of Israel. The Herzl Museum is managed by the World Zionist Or¬ganisation. The Museum established by the Jerusalem Foun¬dation and the Israeli Ministry of Education was modernised with the financial support of Austria, Germany, Switzerland and the USA.
President Moshe Katzav and the speaker of the Knesset, Reuven Rivlin, participated in the opening. Katzav welcomed Austrian Secretary of State Morak in his statement as a “friend” and thanked him for the commitment and support of Austria. In his speech describing the life and work of Theodor Herzl, Morak explained: “Only after the terrible experience of the Shoa had the dream of a Jewish state become reality. Both dreams – the good one of a home for all Jews as well as the bad one of anti-Semitism – are presented impressively to the young 21st century generation in an exhibition based on an outstanding didactic concept. Morak laid wreaths at the tombs of Herzl, on whose birthday the Museum was opened, and of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Moreover, Morak met with Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who is also responsible for trade and industry. In September Olmert will travel to Vienna with a trade delegation. Morak and Olmert jointly invited to a charity gala night for the children’s relief organisation Orr Shalom (Light of Peace) existing for 25 years. In her talks with Morak Minister for Education and Culture Limor Livnat stated that she wanted to intensify the dialogue with Austria. She would attend the Bregenz Festival, and Austrian Minister for Education Elisabeth Gehrer was invited to Israel. Morak considers culture a “door opener“: “Culture has political aspects as it brings to the fore positions but also stimulates cooperation and dialogue”. Morak and Livnat discussed bilateral art projects like the planned cooperation between Vienna State Opera and the opera house in Tel Aviv as well as a Schönberg exhibition in Tel Aviv. In addition, an Israeli exhibition about the iconography of Christ will be realised in Krems (Lower Austria). At the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, which was visited by Morak accompanied by a trade, cultural and media delegation, Austrian teachers receive special training. ■

“World heritage and contemporary architecture” were spotlighted at an international conference held in Vienna’s town hall. The large-scale event was organised by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the City of Vienna with the support of the Austrian Ministry of Education and the international non-governmental organisation for the conservation of historic sites ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites). About 400 conservation experts, architects and urban planners from all over the world participated in the meeting, where a “Vienna Memorandum“ concerning the coexistence of the historic and the new in cities was adopted. This subject had been put on the meeting agenda in the wake of the debate about high-rise buildings around the Dome of Cologne. The “world heritage” label was created under the UNESCO Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972). The objective of this Convention is to select “cultural and natural heritage” and include it in the World Heritage List. 788 properties in 134 countries have been entered on the list, of which 611 have been classified as “cultural” and 154 as “natural” and 23 as “mixed” sites. Since 1996 eight sites in Austria have figured on the list: the historic city centres of Salzburg, Graz and Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace and Gardens, the Semmering railways as well as the cultural landscapes Hallstatt-Dachstein-Salzkammergut, Wachau and (jointly with Hungary) Fertö/Lake Neusiedel“. ■

Austrian films were presented on a special “Austrian Day“ at the Film Festival in Cannes – to the great delight of Austrian Secretary of State for the Arts Morak, who also negotiated about online distribution at a meeting of European ministers of culture. “We have a real enclave of the Austrian film here“. A discussion was dedicated to the subject “What is so special about Austrian cinema?“ The selection made by the French festival organisers paid tribute to doyen Axel Corti with “Wel¬come in Vienna“, offered an opportunity to rediscover Franz Nowotny’s film adaptation of Elfriede Jelinek’s “Die Ausgeperrten“ – the author herself played a role in it – and presented films by Virgil Widrich, Valeska Grisebach, Nikolaus Geyrhalter and André Heller/Othmar Schmiderer. With the short films “Flora“ (1996) by Jessica Hausner, “Die Frucht deines Leibes“ (1996) by Barbara Albert and “Gfrasta“ (1998) by Ruth Mader, it also featured three early works of the women’s trio who have become an integral part of the international film scene. Austria was also strongly represented in special sections of the film festival like “Un certain regard“, e.g. with Benjamin Heisenberg’s “Schläfer“, Peter Tscherkassky’s “Instructions for a Light and Sound Machine“, the short films “Echos“ by Michael Ramsauer and “Mirror Mechanics“ by Siegfried A. Fruhauf.
Viennese film director Michael Haneke is one of the great prize winners of Cannes. The Director’s Prize was awarded to him for his French thriller “Caché“ (“Hidden”) starring Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil. Before that, he had won the prize of the international association of film critics FIPRESCI as well as the Ecumenical Jury’s Prize. ■

An international honour was conferred on the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for its social commitment on 16 May 2005. The musicians were appointed Goodwill Ambassadors of WHO (World Health Organisation). They have supported (inter-)national social projects for many years. In 2000 they introduced the socalled “Philharmonic Million” (in Austrian Schilling); this annual donation has been increased to 100,000 euro. The Orchestra has donated a total of 700,000 euro since 2000. As global Goodwill Ambassadors, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra will perform concerts dedicated to WHO and include WHO messages in its concert programmes and publications during the next five years. ■

On 15 May 1955 the Foreign Ministers of France, Great Britain, the USSR, USA – the four victorious states of WWII. – and Austria re-emerging on the map in 1945 had signed the Austrian State Treaty at Belvedere Palace in Vienna. The exhibition “The New Austria” held at this historic site traces the eventful history of Austria in the 20th century – from the collapse of the Danube monarchy to EU membership (on show until 1 November 2005). About 100 years of Austria’s development are explored from various perspectives. Aspects of Austria’s economic, social and cultural history are highlighted. The State Treaty exhibition was inaugurated by Federal President Heinz Fischer. Opening speeches were also given by Vienna’s mayor Michael Häupl and Secretary of State for the Arts Franz Morak, who expressed his wish that the exhibition should arouse a “lively discussion about the past, present and future”. The exhibition went “far beyond the occasion”. There was a “direct path from the sovereignty of our country under the State Treaty to the European Union, its enlargement and deeper integration. A positive attitude to European integration is the real antithesis to nationalism, totalitarianism and dictatorship impacting the history of our Continent in such a painful way!“.
Besides a text by Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, the superb exhibition catalogue also contains introductory remarks by the private sponsors’ group of Hannes Androsch, who have supported the federal government and the City of Vienna in realising this impressive show. ■

In 1905 writer Elias Canetti (“Auto-da-Fé”, “Crowds and Power”) was born in Rustschuck (now Ruse in Bulgaria). The son of a Sephardic-Jewish merchant came to Vienna in 1913. He was strongly influenced by great Austrian writers, like Schnitzler, Kraus, Musil and Broch. The 51st “Austria Library” was opened in Ruse on the occasion of his 100th birthday (25 July). As the Ministry for Foreign Affairs announced, Austria wanted to make a “contribution to commemorate the great writer and Nobel Prize winner and to emphasise the close connection to the city where he was born“. This is the third “Austria Library” in Bulgaria. ■

The diary of the legendary “State Treaty Chancellor” (1891-1964) had been presented for the first time to the public in the exhibition “Julius Raab. Aussaat und Ernte“ (“Julius Raab. Sowing and Harvesting”) by Seitenstetten Abbey (Lower Austria) in 1992. Raab had taken his A levels at the Abbey’s grammar school in 1911. In 1998 the Abbey, represented by the Head of Archives, Patres Benedikt Wagner, assigned the publication rights in a contract to the historians Gerald Stourzh and Helmut Wohnout. Together with his colleague Johannes Schönner, Wohnout published the diary in the yearbook “Demokratie und Geschichte“ (“Democracy and History”) of the Karl-von-Vogelsang Institute. Previously unknown details about the State Treaty negotiations and Julius Raab’s assuming the office of a chancellor in 1953 were made accessible to a wider public. It becomes evident that there has been a distance between Raab and Bruno Kreisky, who as a Vice Chief of Cabinet, political advisor of then President Theodor Körner (and after 1953 Socialist Secretary of State) had opposed the planned participation of the Alliance of Independents (Verband der Unabhängigen/VdU) in the government. Raab’s diary should for example be compared with Bruno Kreisky’s memoirs of that epoch “Im Strom der Politik“, which should also be subjected to an historiocritical analysis. He described Raab also in the context of internal affairs of the People’s Party as a “sly tactician”, while he was singing the praises of Raab’s predecessor as a chancellor and later foreign minister, Leopold Figl (who made the famous announcement “Austria is free!“ on 15 May 1955). This positive image of Figl’s character, which was confirmed by observers of the allied forces, is presented in a special contribution in the aforementioned important publication “Demokratie und Geschichte“ of the Vogelsang Institute. In interviews with Wohnout, prominent witnesses of the epoch and political fellow combatants of Raab, e.g. Ludwig Steiner or Karl Pisa, describe the State Treaty Chancellor as a politician, who was a devout Christian and fought for the sovereignty of Austria. ■

“Besetzte Bilder“ (occupied images) is the title of a book about “film, culture and propaganda in Austria 1945-1955“ published by the Film Archives Austria. A series of films is presented by the Archives under the same title at Metro cinema in Vienna, documenting the political, social and artistic transformation in the post-war era. The musical and historic past was indulged in. Film monuments were put up for the “true Austrian heroes” – the repatriates, reconstructing the country together with those who had stayed. Austrian film-making was, however, hardly dedicated to commemorating or paying tribute to the victims of National Socialism. A new chapter of international and film history was opened by the Cold War. The “cinema of fear”, of espionage and denunciation, captivated the audience. “The Third Man” still lives on in the historic visual memory of many people. ■

People’s senses – seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting – are the gate to their reality. Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s very special festival styriarte 2005 dedicates its programme to the sensual human being (25 June to 31 July 2005). Harnoncourt wants to breathe new life into Bizet’s “Carmen“ (Nora Gubisch), produced by Andrea Breth. Joseph Haydn’s tragicomic opera “Orlando paladino“, based on Ariosto’s “Orlando furioso“ – the renaissance epic about the knight Roland, who is out of his senses and madly in love –, is presented by Harnoncourt in a concertante performance. The audience will also listen with relish to music by Händel, Bach and Rossini. ■

According to the study “Sport und Gesundheit” (“Sport and Health”) published in 2000, 60% of the Austrian population practices sport less than one or twice a month – this potential should be taken advantage of to boost sport activities. As a follow-up project, a study subtitled “Mehr Österrei¬cher/Innen zum Sport“ (“Sport for More Austrians”) was conducted in 2005 with a view to activating people. It had been commissioned by the Austrian Federal Sport Organisation (BSO) and provides information about the sports practised, sport organisations as well as the significance of sport in Austria. Casinos Austria, Austrian Lotteries, the Austrian National Bank as well as the Austrian Federal Sport and Leisure Centres supported the project as sponsors. The study demonstrated that more than one third of the people not practising any sport were “definitely” interested in exercise-oriented programmes, 63 percent “maybe“. As the authors of the study Otmar Weiß and Manfred Russo suggested, a incentive/disincentive system of the health insurance funds should be introduced, where those engaging in physical activity would earn credits. “Sport on prescription” or the “Green prescription” is not an illusionary demand – as Secretary of State for Sports Karl Schweitzer stressed – but a reasonable measure to curb the exploding cost of ill health. It consists in doctors prescribing physical exercise instead of medication. Particularly, children and young people should be encouraged more strongly to learn to enjoy physical exercise. Tailored programmes could motivate sole parents, older people and low-income earners to (re-)integrate sport into their lives, especially if they support them in overcoming their initial fears. Other target groups are parents with small children and people having undergone phases of dramatic life changes. Another crucial aspect of promoting life-long sport activities is to raise public awareness and to get children and young people used to practising sports. 40-50% of all kids and teenagers in Austria show postural anomalies/faulty posture (Pratscher 1999), 15-20% have reading problems (Pisa study) and 30-40% are overweight (Pokan 2004). One hour of sports a day, as has been repeatedly demanded, seems to have become utopia, at least at school, but could be the most important measure leading to a reduction of the percentage of those inactive in the long run. It could be implemented in cooperation with the sport associations. ■

In the framework of Sporthilfe’s promotional programme for top athletes “More success for Austria”, red-white-red bracelets with the campaign motto are sold for two euro each all over Austria. The main sponsors of the campaign are Austrian Lotteries, McDonalds, CocaCola and Intersport, adidas could be won as an equipment provider. “This is a new and interesting dimension of sport promotion”, the head of Austrian Lotteries Friedrich Stickler and chief of the Austrian daily “Krone” Michael Kuhn agreed. All those buying and wearing the bracelet help Austrian athletes. ■

25-year-old Mubbarak Shami from Qatar won the Vienna City Marathon in 2:12:20 hours as a complete surprise to everyone. The 6709 runners had to endure temperatures between 17 and 25 degrees Celsius and partly strong winds. The best Austrian was Michael Buchleitner, ranking eighth. Susanne Pumper improved the Austrian half marathon record to 1:13:20 hours. Secretary of State for Sports Schweitzer finished the marathon after 3:37:31 hours, while Minister for Economic Affairs Bartenstein covered half the distance in 1:36:46 hours. ■