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Austria Regional Issues
Austria has generally enjoyed good relations with its
neighbors, although there have been exceptions. The most notable
exception has been its relationship with Italy, which was
strained by the issue over Southern Tirol during the 1960s. This
largely German-speaking region, which belonged to Austria-Hungary
prior to World War I, was ceded to Italy in 1919 as a result of
the peace negotiations. Until 1992 ethnic Germans in South Tirol,
in the present-day region of Trentino-Alto Adige, had to struggle
to maintain the measure of autonomy promised to them by the
Italian government. Acts of terrorism directed against Italian
targets became a serious problem in the 1960s, and Italy accused
Austria of not doing enough to capture terrorists whom it claimed
were using Austrian territory as a sanctuary. Austria and Italy
eventually reached an agreement in 1969 on a timetable for
satisfying the demands of the German-speaking South Tiroleans for
cultural autonomy. Progress was slow, but in June 1992 an
agreement was finally realized that granted the German speakers a
greater degree of autonomy. Although not allowed the right to
secede from Italy, the cultural rights of German speakers in
Trentino-Alto Adige were enhanced with guarantees of education in
their own language, greater representation in the civil service,
and the right to go to the International Court of Justice in The
Hague without permission from the government in Rome. Both
Italian and Austrian authorities have declared themselves
satisfied with the agreement.
Austria became concerned as the political stability of its
neighbor to the south, Yugoslavia, began to unravel in 1991. As
it became clear that the republics of Slovenia and Croatia were
preparing to break away from the Yugoslav federation, a
disagreement arose within the ÖVP-SPÖ coalition over when to
grant diplomatic recognition to the new states. In September
1991, Foreign Minister Mock advocated immediate recognition, but
Chancellor Vranitzky preferred that Austria wait until other
European governments were ready to take the same step. In the
end, Vranitzky prevailed in this debate, and recognition was
delayed until January 1992, when the EC recognized the newly
independent states.
On other important aspects of policy toward the breakup of
Yugoslavia, greater unanimity existed between the ÖVP and SPÖ.
Foreign Minister Mock was an early advocate of sending a UN
peacekeeping force to prevent bloodshed as the various Yugoslav
republics sought to establish their independence. In August 1991,
Austria became the first UN member to bring to the attention of
the Security Council the fact that large numbers of civilians in
Slovenia and Croatia were being killed by Serbian forces. Despite
their deep concern about the tragedy unfolding in Yugoslavia,
both Mock and Vranitzky are in agreement that Austria's
neutrality and its proximity to the fighting preclude the
inclusion of Austrian troops in any UN peacekeeping force.
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During the 1980s and early 1990s, the literature on Austrian
politics in English grew considerably. Austria: A Study in
Modern Achievement, edited by Jim Sweeney and Josef
Weidenholzer, contains a useful collection of articles on
Austria's political system and political parties. Modern
Austria, edited by Kurt Steiner, covers roughly the same
ground, in some cases in more detail, but is somewhat dated
because it was published in 1981. Melanie A. Sully's A
Contemporary History of Austria is an excellent treatment of
Austrian politics during the 1980s. It is particularly good on
the interaction between the parties and their internal problems.
John Fitzmaurice's Austrian Politics and Society Today
covers roughly the same ground as Sully's book and is a readable
introduction to Austrian politics. Politics in Austria,
edited by Kurt Richard Luther and Wolfgang C. Müller, contains a
collection of essays by Austrian political scientists examining
the sociological changes in Austria during the postwar era and
their impact on the political system. Readers with a knowledge of
German should consult Handbuch des politischen Systems
Österreichs, edited by Herbert Dachs et al., which contains a
wealth of articles on political parties, political institutions,
trade unions, foreign policy, and many areas of government
policy. Also in German is the very useful Österreichisches
Jahrbuch für Politik, which contains articles by noted
specialists and politicians about recent political developments.
(For further information and complete citations,
see
Bibliography.)
Data as of December 1993
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