US embassy cable - 05VIENNA1136

UNCLAS VIENNA 001136 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/ACE AND EUR/AGS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID, PHUM, PREL, AU 
SUBJECT: NEW EURASIA FOUNDATION DEMARCHE: AUSTRIAN RESPONSE 
 
REF: STATE 44003 
 
1.  On April 7, Econ Unit Chief met with Ingrid Sager, Head 
of the MFA's Eastern European Development Assistance 
Division, to encourage Austrian participation in the New 
Eurasia Foundation (FNE).  Sager said that Austria, 
unfortunately, would not contribute to the FNE.  She added 
that, because of its limited resources, the GoA concentrated 
its official development assistance (ODA) on priority 
countries.  The GoA's 2005 ODA budget for the region (Eastern 
Europe, Central Asia, and the Balkans) was only Euro 15 
million, and the western Balkan nations received the bulk of 
these funds.  The GoA had decided, however, to increase its 
assistance to Moldova to Euro 700,000 in 2005.  Sager noted 
that the GoA does provide approximately Euro 200,000-300,000 
of support to Austrian NGOs partnering with indigenous NGOs 
in the CIS area.  Sager said that while ODA to the region was 
"below average," Austrian commercial activity in Eastern 
Europe had been very much "above average" for over a decade. 
Brown