Austrian Foreign Policy Yearbook 2002 Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs Produced by: Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs Ballhausplatz 2, 1014 Vienna, Austria Telephone: (0043) (01) 531 15-0 Fax: (0043) (01) 535 45 30 E-mail: [email protected] The Austrian Foreign Policy Yearbook is a shortened version of the official report addressed to Parliament by the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and has been produced in cooperation with Dr. James Wilkie. The original German version is available at http://www.bmaa.gv.at/service/ or in printed form at the Press and Information Service, Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 2 Contents Foreword by the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs 5 A. Austria in the European Union 10 I. The Enlargement of the European Union 10 II. EU Policies 13 Austria’s Role in the European Institutions 13 Reform of the European Union 15 Economic and Monetary Union 17 Employment 18 The Internal Market 19 Transport 19 Environment 20 Energy 21 Education 21 Research and Development 22 Building an Area of Freedom, Security and Justice 22 III. Austria’s and the European Union’s External Relations 24 The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) 24 The Central and Eastern European States 28 South-Eastern Europe / Western Balkans 34 The Russian Federation 39 Asia and the Pacific 41 The Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean 49 Africa South of the Sahara 57 North America 63 Latin America and the Caribbean 68 B. Austria in Other European Institutions 74 I. The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) and the 74 Partnership for Peace (PfP) II. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) 76 III. The Council of Europe 82 IV. The Central European Initiative (CEI) 89 V. Austria’s Relations with Neighbouring Countries 90 The Regional Partnership 90 South Tyrol 91 Protection of the Environment 92 The River Danube 93 C. Austria and the Developing World 96 Bilateral Development Cooperation 98 3 Multilateral Development Cooperation 100 The European Union’s Development Policy 102 Assistance for Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia 104 D. The United Nations 106 General Assembly and Security Council 106 Organisations and Programmes of the UN System 109 E. Disarmament and Arms Control 118 Weapons of Mass Destruction 118 Conventional Weapons 120 Multilateral Export Control Regimes 121 F. The International Protection of Human Rights 123 G. The Humanitarian Dimension in International Relations 136 Migrants and Refugees 136 Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief 136 International Drug Control 137 International Crime Prevention 139 The International Criminal Court 140 H. The World Economy 141 The World Economic Summit (G8) 141 The World Trade Organization (WTO) 141 The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 143 I. Global Sustainable Development 146 J. Cultural Policy and Scientific Cooperation 150 K. Austrians Abroad 161 L. The Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs 162 Annex I: International Organisations in Austria 163 Annex II: The Diplomatic Academy of Vienna 165 4 FOREWORD As these words were being written, the world was holding its breath over a war, the consequences of which could hardly be foreseen. Even before it began, the conflict over Iraq had shaken the key institutions of global, European and transatlantic cooperation and raised many questions for the future. Our primary care must now be to ameliorate the sufferings of those people directly affected and provide the necessary humanitarian assistance, for which Austria has already made one million Euro available as immediate aid. Concern for the Iraqi people must be our primary concern in the post-war period. Austria adopted a clear attitude towards the Iraq conflict, one which arose from our traditional multilateral, European and humanitarian commitment based on the rule of international law. To the very last, Austria campaigned for a peaceful solution to the problem of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, not least in support of the Greek presidency of the European Union. While visiting the Maghreb states Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, I endeavoured to encourage an Arab peace initiative – by agreement with the Greek presidency, which itself visited other Arab countries. This initiative would have impressed on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein the seriousness of the situation and the necessity of complete cooperation (active disclosure of all weapons of mass destruction, acceptance of cooperation with the UN weapons inspectors, etc.), in order to avoid the risk of war. The Secretary-General of the Arab League, Amre Moussa, subsequently visited the EU foreign ministers at their Council meeting, and Council President Papandreou attended a meeting of the Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo. This initiative failed, although it had led to an Arab summit meeting in Sharm el Sheikh and to a decision to send an enlarged troika of Arab foreign ministers to New York and subsequently Baghdad. Only the Tunisian foreign minister went to see Saddam Hussein on a bilateral basis, to bring him a message from President Ben Ali, but unfortunately too late to prevent the outbreak of war. All our efforts were and are directed towards strengthening the role of the United Nations and finding a common position among the members of the European Union. Despite the understandable disappointment over the differences that adversely affected the functioning of these institutions, it would be a serious mistake to allow mutual recriminations over the past to have an adverse effect on the ability of the UN and EU to act in the future. This would be doing an ill service, not only to the institutions concerned, but also to those most affected, namely, the Iraqi civilian population. We have to look to the future here. The United Nations, with its broadly- based legitimacy and its experience, is indispensable for humanitarian aid as well as for post-war political and economic reconstruction. The UN is in a position to coordinate aid measures efficiently, build structures to serve democracy and the rule of law, protect human and minority rights, and thereby, under the auspices of the entire international community, contribute to the peaceful development of Iraq and the region as a whole. A glimpse into this Yearbook should suffice to convince oneself of what valuable and irreplaceable work the UN does to ensure long-term and lasting peace, since it is engaged in countering not only the symptoms, but also the underlying causes, of many of the ills that beset our world. This is of fundamental importance, not least for 5 the fight against terrorism, since it, too, thrives on a dangerous seedbed of hopelessness, poverty and destruction of natural resources. In 2002 the UN set an exemplary lead here with the Conference on the Financing of Development in Monterrey and the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. The European Union is at a decisive point in its history. Through its enlargement, one of my most important foreign policy priorities in recent years, it is on the point of realising the chance of the century to assure peace, stability and prosperity over the entire continent. The conclusion of the accession negotiations with ten Central and East European states as well as Malta and Cyprus is the most welcome event of 2002 for Europe and for Austria. The EU will thereby become an entity of 450 million people, the strongest trading power in the world, an economic and monetary union, and the largest donor of development assistance and humanitarian aid. On the other hand, the EU is still faced with the challenge of finding a political and especially a foreign policy role that corresponds to its economic power. We have all too clearly observed that the instrument of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) has not sufficiently matured to the extent of establishing and implementing a common European position. Austria therefore regards its position as borne out, namely, that the CFSP and the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) must be further developed, for example in the Convention on the Future of Europe. The responsibility for ensuring the stability of our immediate geographical environment in itself makes a strong role by the EU vital. The murder of Serbian President Zoran Djindjic reminded us tragically that Europe must not relax its commitment to this important region of our continent or its endeavours to bring it closer to the European structures. In this connection I welcome the fact that the first civilian ESDP operation has begun in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the first military one in Macedonia, both with Austrian participation. Traditionally, Austria’s foreign policy pays close attention to South-Eastern Europe, which is reflected in the strong presence of Austrians there. Apart from prominent politicians and diplomats like former Vice Chancellor Erhard Busek, who on 1 January 2002 took up his office as coordinator of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe, more than 600 Austrians were engaged in the various UN, OSCE, NATO- PfP and EU missions in the Western Balkans region. Worldwide, some 1,050 Austrians participated in international missions in 2002; all of them deserve our respect and thanks. Working under difficult conditions, they often risked their lives to help other people, and are the finest ambassadors for Austria’s solidarity and readiness to assist. In a joint action with Romania, the Stability Pact and the European Commission, another initiative that I undertook for the stabilisation of South-Eastern Europe and to bring it closer to the European institutions, is the Danube Cooperation Process, which comprises the 13 states of the Danube basin. Founded in Vienna in May 2002, it aims to mobilise the political, economic and cultural integration potential of the Danube in a comprehensive forum in which current and future EU member states, together with other countries of South-Eastern Europe, can formulate and implement proposals of regional interest.