SPÖ boss Pamela Rendi-Wagner reacted with criticism to the critical words of top SPÖ diplomats about the former representative of Bosnia Wolfgang Petritsch. She would like “the experienced voices of older experts to care less about their own party than their political competitors,” she told ATV television on Friday. The group had already addressed a foreign policy position paper André Babeler fluent.
“Social democracy has always acted at European and international level. Today, this demand is more important than ever. But in recent decades, this articulation has not been sufficiently pursued”, says the communiqué of the seven foreign policy experts distributed by the Babler Team On thursday. This formulation is directed at Rendi-Wagner, who is not only the party’s leader but also its foreign policy spokesperson.
“Hope Died”
“The SPÖ has to reposition itself in terms of foreign policy,” said Petritsch in an interview with APA. A position paper on foreign and European policy was formulated and the mayor of Traiskirch was believed to be “best able to implement it”. He is very appreciative of Rendi-Wagner as a person, but in the five years at the helm of foreign policy she “has not assembled a team, nor a program, nor an orientation.” That’s why “hope died” for him regarding Rendi-Wagner. The Governor of Burgenland Hans Peter Doskozil he could not support it because he had “machined” it within the party.
Rendi-Wagner told ATV that “it was not surprising” that former foreign policy officials under former chancellors wanted “the party, the Social Democrats, to put even more emphasis on this particular area”. However, “many priorities have already been defined”, Rendi-Wagner referred, for example, to the foreign policy commission of the National Council that deals with the issues of Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey and to the “very clear pro-European agenda”.
Nowotny paddles back
However, one of the document’s co-signatories backtracked and presented a completely different interpretation of the initiative. It was about conveying the principles of social-democratic foreign policy to the mayor of Traiskirchner, who in the past “demonstrated a negative point in certain foreign policy issues”, said the former ambassador Eva Nowotny the standard. The document should also not be understood as a “fundamental critique of the SPÖ foreign policy” or “agreement”, but at best as a reminder to the three SPÖ presidential candidates. “We don’t see ourselves as part of Andreas Babler’s campaign,” said the ex-chancellor’s former foreign policy adviser. Franz Vranitzkywho supports Rendi-Wagner in the presidential campaign.
Petritsch was secretary to the former chancellor for many years Bruno Kreisky. After gaining international fame as an expert on the Balkans in the 1990s, before the 2002 National Council elections he was seen as the SPÖ candidate for the post of foreign minister. Other signatories to the document are Nowotny’s husband, Thomas, who was also Kreisky’s secretary, and former ambassadors Georg Lenkh, Peter Moser It is Helfried Carl. Lennkh was also the EU Special Representative for Chad, while Carl served as the office manager of the then President of the National Council Barbara Prammer worked.