FPY 2004 Homepage 29 12

Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs Minoritenplatz 8 A-1014 Vienna Austria Tel : During office hours on work days between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.: 0 50 11 50-0 / int.: +43 50 11 50-0 For general information: 0 802 426 22 (free of charge; cannot be dialled from outside Austria) Fax: 0 50 11 59-0 / int.: +43 50 11 59-0 E-Mail: [email protected] Telegrams: AUSSENAMT WIEN Internet: http://www.bmaa.gv.at Service: In cases of emergency abroad, the Service is available around the clock. Tel: 0 50 11 50-4411 / int.: +43 50 11 50-4411 or: (01) 90 115-4411 / int.: (+43-1) 90 115-4411 Fax: 0 50 11 59-4411 / int.: +43 50 11 59-4411 or: (01) 904 20 16-4411 / int.: (+43-1) 904 20 16-4411 E-Mail: [email protected] The possibilities for assistance to Austrians abroad are listed in detail on the homepage of the Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs www.bmaa.gv.at under the item “Service”. Austrian Foreign Policy Yearbook 2004 Report by the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Proprietor and Publisher: Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs A-1014 Vienna, Minoritenplatz 8 Austria Edited and coordinated by: Thomas Schlesinger and Elisabeth Reich English translation coordinated by: Sabine Hübler The German original is available at www.bmaa.gv.at (Außenpolitik), or in printed form in the Documentation and Dissemination of Information, Library Department, Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs. V PREFACE The year 2004 was definitely a year of historic importance for both Austria and the European Union alike: on 1 May ten new Member States joined the Union. With this round of enlargement, the largest ever in the history of the European Union, decades of division on our continent were finally overcome. This reunification represented an important step towards a new, modern, future-oriented Europe. Austria paid tribute to the enlargement of the European Union by organising numerous celebratory events and, it was impressive to see how Austrians celebrated on 1 May along the line of the former Iron Curtain, welcoming the new citizens of the Union. For Austria, this recent round of enlargement entailed a shift from the periphery of the Union to the geographical centre of a modified European Union. Old, long-standing neighbours have become new partners; partners with whom we are further developing the European peace project and maintaining close ties. Pro-active neighbourhood policy is one of the priorities of Austrian foreign policy. Neighbourhood policy is not an exact science but rather an art. In the new Europe and in a fundamentally changed world good neighbourliness calls for specific qualities and offers new opportunities. Austria, like hardly any other country in Europe, is experiencing this in practice – in our citizens’ everyday lives, in business and in politics. The target I have set myself in this connection is to ensure that Austrian foreign policy is understood as a genuine offer of partnership. Austria is thus constantly striving to further intensify the already close cooperation with her neighbours. The Regional Partnership Austria has established with the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia plays an important role in this context and has proved its worth in practice. We jointly identify issues we intend to implement in the European Union and elaborate proposals for improving the coordination of national and European efforts in the event of crises. And together we intend to further intensify our cooperation in combating organised crime. However, the process of European integration was not completed with the recent round of enlargement. Bulgaria and Romania concluded their accession negotiations on 14 December and are scheduled to join in 2007. Croatia has made substantial political and economic progress in the last few years and is thus acting as a role model for the countries of South East Europe. Austria therefore strongly advocates this country’s accession to the European Union. The stabilisation of South East Europe, and especially the Western Balkans, is another priority addressed by Austrian foreign policy. I III therefore support the rapprochement of these states to the European Union. The future and the hope of all the countries of the Western Balkans lie in the European Union, and all of them will become members one day. This is where the European peace project will have to stand its next big practical test following Europe’s reunification this May. The fact of the matter is that for Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Albania there is no reasonable alternative to the road towards Europe, and this European perspective has clearly become the most important driver for all future-oriented forces in the societies of this region. Turkey is an important partner for Europe in political, economic and strategic terms. We thus attach great importance to a close and dynamic partnership. The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe represented another milestone of European policy in 2004. Together with representatives of all the EU Member States, Federal Chancellor Schüssel and I signed the Constitutional Treaty in Rome on 29 October. In my view, it is remarkable that 25 countries succeeded in agreeing on a common constitutional text applicable to 456 million citizens. This fact alone represents a huge success because the target they had set themselves was a very ambitious one, namely to ensure that the institutional balance between large and small Member States continues to be guaranteed. In the future, EU citizens will have the right to bring any violation of their fundamental rights before the European Court of Justice and the national parliaments will have wider competences. The European Union’s Common Foreign Policy will henceforth be headed by a Union Minister for Foreign Affairs who simultaneously holds the office of Vice-President of the European Commission. This will bring the European Union another step closer to its goal of a common foreign policy. With respect to the European Security and Defence Policy, I would particularly like to highlight the takeover of the NATO SFOR operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina by the EU EUFOR-ALTHEA peacekeeping forces. Austria, too, has dispatched a Federal Army contingent to participate in this peacekeeping mission. These Austrian soldiers are thus making an important contribution to the stabilisation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and are playing their part in a concrete and visible Austrian foreign policy. But foreign policy also involves managing crises abroad. On 26 December a gigantic flood wave caused enormous destruction in South-East Asia and IV East Africa and also brought much suffering and distress to many Austrians. I was touched by our compatriots’ all-round willingness to help the tsunami victims. With their donations and their untiring efforts in the region the Austrian people once again gave a show of solidarity which reached far beyond our national borders. In the immediate aftermath of the tsunami disaster the Austrian Federal Government made available substantial funds for the implementation of humanitarian emergency relief measures and is also supporting a large-scale reconstruction programme for the affected region together with the federal provinces, cities and municipalities. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the numerous relief organisations, associations and individuals who are contributing so much effort and dedication to the reconstruction work. They are true ambassadors of humanity. In view of the unprecedented global dimension of the natural disaster and the large number of affected Europeans, we have been working intensively at both the national and the EU level to elaborate ways and means of enabling us to react even more efficiently and to assist more swiftly in the future. One of the core tasks of the Foreign Service and a focus of my personal attention is to support our citizens when they stay abroad. Over the years the Vienna-based UN headquarters has developed into a veritable “security centre” with respect to the work of the United Nations: nuclear safety, disarmament and the fight against drugs and crime are the focus of the work performed by the Vienna-based units. Vienna hosts precisely those organisations, institutions and agencies which deal with the topical issues that affect citizens’ day-to-day security and safety: the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Money Laundering Network (IMoLIN), the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO PrepCom). Austria's candidature for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the period 2009–2010 emphasises our country’s commitment to and appreciation of the United Nations. The year 2004 was dominated by the organisation’s internal reform, which is aimed at strengthening the United Nations and enabling it to effectively counter the global security threats of the 21 st century. In view of the dynamic development of the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy, we support the creation of an EU seat on the United Nations’ Security Council in the medium term. An important element of this reform process launched by the UN is the promotion of human rights and the fight against poverty, hunger and disease. Austrian foreign policy attaches the utmost importance to the V strengthening of human rights, particularly the rights of women and children, the protection of minorities, the global enforcement of the ban on torture and the fight against racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism. Austria chaired the Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World, the First Review Conference on the Implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti- Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, which was held from 29 November to 3 December.

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