German snub for Austrian far-right

Schroeder's first official visit to Austria is regarded as politically sensitive

VIENNA, Austria -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is preparing for what is being seen as a politically sensitive visit to Austria.

Schroeder was a leading voice behind the European Union's effort last year to impose diplomatic sanctions on Austria after the ascent into government of the far-right leader Freedom Party.

During his two-day Austrian visit, which begins on Friday, Schroeder will spend more time with opposition figures than government officials and will not meet any Freedom Party members.

Although it is Schroeder's first visit to Austria since taking office in 1998, he will not actually meet Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel -- whose People's Party leads the government coalition with the Freedom Party -- until Saturday.

And he will avoid meeting all Freedom Party government ministers, the Reuters news agency reported.

Among the issues to be discussed during Schroeder's Vienna visit is next month's European Union summit in Sweden, which will address EU expansion.

IN-DEPTH   •  Embarking on expansion   •  EU enlargement map   •  History of EU growth   •  Nice: Europe's next steps   •  What kind of Europe?   •  Key leaders' views

The Freedom Party, then led by the charismatic Joerg Haider, were invited to form a coalition government only after the People's Party had failed to form a government with other prospective partners.

Haider, who has since resigned the leadership but remains the driving force behind the party, has taken the opportunity to criticise Schroeder for scheduling more time with opposition Social Democrat party leaders and government critics than with government officials.

Freedom Party General Secretary Peter Sichrovsky called the visit "a spectacle of embarrassment."

Sichrovsky said Schroeder and his Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer backed "the historical lie that Austria shared the same historical responsibility for the Nazi past."

Conservative Bavarian leader Edmund Stoiber, a possible candidate for German chancellor in next year's election, also criticised Schroeder on Thursday.

He told the Muenchener Zeitungs-Verlag daily newspaper: "When Schroeder has just one hour left over for the Austrian chancellor, that is the continuation of an impermissible approach towards a close partner of Germany."

Austria's fellow EU nations, including Germany, froze bilateral relations early last year after Schuessel formed a coalition with the Freedom Party.

Despite strong ties between the two German-speaking states and criticism of the EU sanctions by opposition conservatives in Berlin, Germany felt its Nazi past placed a special duty on it to be seen to be condemning the move to the right in Vienna.

The diplomatic sanctions were lifted in September after an EU-appointed panel gave Austria a clean bill of health. Schroeder, however, still kept his distance.

When he held talks with Schuessel last November, it was a chat on the fringes of the annual conference of the German employers' federation.