The European Union warned Austria Monday it would isolate a Vienna government that included Joerg Haider_s Freedom Party in an unprecedented step which reflects the depth of concern about the far-right leader.
Published:
1 February 2000 y., Tuesday
In a statement issued by EU president Portugal, Austria_s allies said they would freeze all bilateral political contacts, limit the role of Vienna_s ambassadors in their capitals and not back any Austrian candidates for international organizations.
Haider is best known for making remarks which appeared to play down the crimes of the Nazis. A fairly forthright apology he made in November has failed to quell international protest.
The outcry at the prospect of his party entering a coalition with the conservative People_s Party grew louder over the weekend after the populist leader heaped angry abuse on French President Jacques Chirac and the Belgian government.
People_s Party leader Wolfgang Schuessel, foreign minister for the last five years, was visibly shaken by the EU threat. The new government should be judged on its policies, he said.
He said the new government program, expected to be ready by Wednesday, would be preceded by a preamble explicitly spelling out Austria_s commitment to European integration and acknowledging its Nazi past.
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Heads of foreign states bid farewell to the late President of the Republic of Lithuania, Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas.
more »
Today we say farewell to one of the most prominent Lithuanian politicians, a sincere and open person, a man of principle, Algirdas Brazauskas - the first directly elected president of Lithuania after re-independence.
more »
Head of Cabinet of the Secretary General of the Council of the European Union Marek Mora is paying a visit to Lithuania from 30 June to 1 July.
more »
Lithuania‘s Minister of Foreign Affairs A. Ažubalis says, that continuous implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon, energy security, as well as European Union‘s relations with Eastern Neighbourhood countries and Russia would stay on the list of European policy issues that are the most important to Lithuania in the second half of 2010.
more »
President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė calls the decisions adopted by the European Council strategic and important for Lithuania and for the whole European Union.
more »
On 16 June in Vilnius, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis and Poland’s Minister of National Defence Bogdan Klich discussed successful bilateral cooperation on security and defence matters.
more »
President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė sent congratulations to President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson of the Republic of Iceland on Iceland's national holiday, the Independence Day.
more »
President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė goes on an official visit to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
more »
President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė received a high-ranking government official from China, He Guoqiang.
more »
On the occasion of European Day for Border Guards, the 10th of June, heads of diplomatic missions of the European Union member states in Lithuania visited the Border Guard School in Medininkai.
more »