US embassy cable - 05VIENNA1065

UNCLAS VIENNA 001065 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/AGS AND INR/EU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, AU 
SUBJECT: CHANCELLOR SCHUESSEL PRAISES U.S. ROLE IN 
DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT 
 
 
1.  In a March 31 speech commemorating the fiftieth 
anniversary of Austrian statehood, Chancellor Schuessel 
underlined the crucial role American power and generosity 
played in securing Austria's re-emergence as a nation in the 
post-World War II period.  Schuessel added that it is well 
documented that when communists took power in Prague and 
Budapest in 1948, the Austrian Communist Party (KPO) had 
similar, detailed plans to seize power in Vienna.  Without 
the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan, as well as adept 
maneuvering by a bipartisan group of Austrian politicians, he 
noted, Austria would have fallen into the Soviet sphere of 
influence.  Schuessel stressed that the Truman Doctrine 
defined a consistent, though "not always perfectly applied" 
USG foreign policy objective -- assisting nations to build 
democratic societies. 
 
2.  Schuessel observed that the historical continuum of 
democratic development in post-War Europe lasted from the 
Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan to the signing of the 
Austrian State Treaty in 1955, and on to the fall of the Iron 
Curtain in 1989.  According to Schuessel, the process 
continues today.  Developments in Ukraine, Georgia and 
Kyrgyzstan were unequivocally positive, he said, and there is 
now new hope for Afghanistan and Iraq.  Schuessel opined that 
a "good European foreign policy" should proactively seek new 
opportunities to promote democracy.  The Balkans, in 
Schuessel's opinion, is a region where Europe can do more to 
foster stability and democracy.  Schuessel noted that the EU 
now accounted for 90% of the financial and personnel 
resources for peacekeeping operations in the Balkans.  He 
added that the increased European involvement complemented 
transatlantic strategies in other regions. 
Brown