Austria's right-wing government has promised to co-operate with three "wise men" nominated by the European Court of Human Rights who will monitor Vienna's human rights record on behalf of its 14 EU partners. But the Chancellor, Dr Wolfgang Schussel, said he was unhappy that the 14 states remained unwilling to lift their diplomatic sanctions against Vienna.
The leader of Dr Schussel's coalition partners in the far-right Freedom Party, Ms Susanne Riess Passer, dismissed a Portuguese initiative as "inadequate" and said that the government would only co-operate with the "wise men" once there was a timetable for ending sanctions.
"I cannot welcome a proposal without a concrete timetable and a scenario for lifting the sanctions," she said.
Her predecessor, Dr Jorg Haider, said it was unacceptable that Austria should be monitored during France's six-month EU presidency, in view of the fact that Paris had itself been criticised in an official report this week for its race relations record.
"We are not Rwanda, where a military dictatorship butchers people. We have to be careful with the three wise men because the visit of three wise men to the baby Jesus did not prevent him being crucified," he said.
Under the plan announced yesterday by Portugal's Prime Minister, Mr Antonio Gutteres, the three monitors will evaluate the Austrian government's commitment to "European values". They will pay special attention to the treatment of minorities, refugees and immigrants and to the development of the "political nature" of the Freedom Party.
The diplomatic sanctions were imposed on January 31st in protest against the Freedom Party's inclusion in government. The party has run xenophobic campaigns against immigrants in Austria and Dr Haider became notorious for praising Hitler's employment policies and expressing admiration for former SS officers.
The party has seen its popularity plummet since entering government, partly on account of the right-wing coalition's harsh economic policies which are popular with big business but penalise the less well-off.
Dr Schussel said yesterday that the government was still committed to holding a referendum on the sanctions later this year, despite the Portuguese initiative. The Freedom Party hopes that the referendum, which is likely to show an overwhelming majority of Austrians opposed to the sanctions, will boost its popularity.
But many in Dr Schussel's conservative People's Party, traditionally Austria's most pro-EU party, are opposed to the referendum, which they fear will reinforce anti-EU feeling. Some Austrian political analysts believe that the coalition could split over the referendum issue, opening the way for fresh elections.
Fewer than 40 per cent of Austrians say they will participate in the referendum, which some legal experts say is unconstitutional.
A number of EU member-states, including Ireland, want to see the sanctions against Vienna lifted, but officials there are disappointed that none has been willing to break ranks by unilaterally restoring full relations with Austria.
AFP adds: The Austrian President, Mr Thomas Klestil, reiterated Vienna's support for EU enlargement yesterday at a conference of central European leaders clouded by fears of an EU expansion slowdown. The diplomatic isolation of Austria had made no difference, he said.
"Despite the recent events . . . Austria will remain fully committed to European integration and the enlargement of the European Union," he told the World Economic Forum regional meeting in Salzburg, Austria.
