Editor's Welcome

It is a great pleasure for me to introduce myself to you, dear readers of Austrian Information. I have recently assumed the position of Christoph Meran, former Director of the Austrian Press & Information Service, who left at the end of September.

Over the years I have been working in the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs dealing with Austrian-American and European-American relations, in particular EU-US transatlantic dialogue as well as other issues of bilateral interest. One of the most challenging and rewarding projects involved negotiating and implementing an agreement on the Austrian Reconciliation Fund, which disbursed payments to former forced laborers during the NS regime. This agreement was concluded in close cooperation with the U.S. administration in 2000. Since 2003 I served as Counselor for Political and Economic Affairs with the Austrian Embassy in Moscow.

I look forward to continuing the Press & Information Service’s bi-monthly newsletter in the forthcoming years and would appreciate your feedback and suggestions, particularly in regard to its content.

In view of the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, we present a feature article on the special role played by the Austrian diplomatic mission in Budapest in offering humanitarian assistance during the days of the uprising. Some further articles refer to recent cultural events organized by the Embassy’s Cultural Forum.

With best wishes,

Wolfgang Renezeder
Editor-in-Chief