From the Editor
Austrian Federal President Thomas Klestil died on July 6, 2004. We wish to thank everybody for their letters and messages of condolences which we have passed on to his family in Vienna. Dr. Klestil spent eighteen years of his diplomatic career in the United States and will be remembered as a builder of bridges in difficult times. In the words of US Secretary of State Colin Powell, “HE WAS A GREAT STATESMAN AND SERVANT OF HIS PEOPLE, AS WELL AS A SERVANT OF ALL HUMANKIND. HE WILL BE MISSED.”
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A Tribute to Former Austrian Federal President Thomas Klestil (1932 - 2004)
The sudden death of Austrian Federal President Thomas Klestil on July 6, 2004 struck the Austrian people as well as his international colleagues and friends with unexpected intensity. Dr. Klestil, who was to have terminated his second, six-year term in office as President on July 8, died before having enjoyed the resonance of appreciation from the Austrian people. This has weighed heavily on many of Austria's citizens. Voices worldwide have expressed their grief over the loss of a statesman with extraordinary capabilities as mediator. German Federal Chancellor Schroeder, in his expression of condolence, emphasized that not only his country but also all of Europe has lost a "builder of bridges." This is a perception confirmed at all levels of society. Held especially high in esteem was Dr. Klestil's role as an advocate and combatant for European unity and his special commitment made toward the integration of Eastern European states into the European Union.
Opening of the Austria Center New York
Mr. Bruno Freytag, Austrian Trade Commissioner in New York
Mr. Michael Breisky, Consul General in New York with wife Luise
Ms. Elena Freytag
Ms. Eva Nowotny, Austrian Ambassador to the United States
Mr. Walter Koren, Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, Head of Foreign Trade
In summer of 2003 the Austrian Trade Commission New York and the Austrian National Tourist Office took up their new residence, sharing accommodations in the center of Manhattan. On February 12, 2004, the Head of the Worldwide Austrian Trade Commission, Dr. Walter Koren, officiated at the opening of the new Austria Center New York. "Combining trade and tourism is unique," claimed Austrian Trade Commissioner, Bruno Freytag, at the opening. "With our new office close to Times Square, directly in the heart of New York, we bring Austria’s economic interests directly to the center of American economic life. We are the major focal point of Austrian and American economy."
Some 150 guests attended the opening, including a number of prominent people from areas of economics and politics, such as the Austrian Ambassador to the U.S., Eva Nowotny, the Consul General in New York, Dr. Michael Breisky, Ambassador Pfanzelter of the Austrian delegation to the United Nations, Director of the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York, Christoph Thun-Hohenstein and Director of Foreign Trade at the Trade Commission, Walter Koren. Moreover, guests from the international arena such as the sister of the Mayor of New York, Marjorie Tiven, Counselor for International Affairs of the City of N.Y. and Representative of the Governor of N.Y.
During the opening speech, Walter Koren and Bruno Freytag pointed out the importance of the U.S. being Austria’s third largest trading partner. As Koren stated, "During the last ten years, the sum of imports and exports between the two countries have more than doubled. While in 1993 it totalled 2.7 billion dollars, the volume of trade is currently at about 6 billion dollars." Also the reciprocal investments of the two countries have increased over the last few years. The final numbers reveal that U.S. investments in Austria currently amount to about 3.1 billion dollars whereas Austrian companies invested about 2.4 billion dollars in the U.S. "Through direct investments, over 40,000 jobs have been created in both countries," said Koren.
Austrian Trade Commissioner Bruno Freytag looks optimistically into the future: "The U.S. is a most promising market for Austrian companies, also in view of the bright economic prognosis. We will continue to strongly promote our firms in the United States."
TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS
Let me say that the 3 ½ years I spent in the U.S. were among the most interesting and wonderful in my life. And I am particularly grateful that I could be there especially during the crucial period between 2000 and 2004. While my predecessor might have had more stable and quieter times, I experienced many unforgettable moments during those years: I arrived in the middle of the period when sanctions were imposed on the Austrian government (to which the U.S. had a remarkable diplomatic and reasonable approach). Then there was the election of George W. Bush, followed by the day most people will never forget in their lives: 9/11. All of this was peppered with the anthrax scare, the fear of the D.C. sniper and Hurricane Isabel.
European Union Enlargement
After the European Union (EU) grew from originally six members in 1958 to fifteen members in 1995, it celebrated an historic enlargement on May 1, 2004 as ten countries from Central Europe and the Mediterranean became members. It is the largest expansion in terms of scale and diversity that has ever taken place and will become the world’s biggest single market. Its surface area increased by a quarter and its population by one fifth to 450 million people. Thirteen nations applied for membership. Ten of these countries, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia joined on May 1, 2004. A ceremony marked the achievement in Dublin, Ireland at the President’s residence.
Military Robot Saves Blood
Not that war is necessarily the answer to all conflicts - but many modern developments are ignited because of requests for military research. The Federal Armed Forces is too small to be a contractor; nevertheless, new and special techniques come into being because of such things.
The Truth About Austrian Wine
The consumption of wine per capita in the U.S. is around 7.5 litres (1.98 U.S. gallons) per year, far below the average per person of Italy, France and Luxembourg. According to the Austrian Trade Commission in New York, sales of Austrian wine in the U.S. rose to 3.2 million euro ($3.87 million) last year.
Central Park Project
"The Ramble is at present the very soul of the Park...Ignaz A. Pilat, a gentleman to whom the public is indebted for the fine effects in the arrangement of plants and the classification of colors which attract visitors of taste to Central Park."Saturday Evening Post , 1866.
Underwater Pioneer Hans Hass
Hans Hass, the Viennese pioneer of diving and marine biology celebrated on January 1, 2004 his 85th birthday. Born January 23, 1919 in Vienna as the son of a lawyer, he first encountered the underwater world as an eighteen-year-old in July 1937 during holidays to the south of France. From that day forth, his life was sealed.