In the first visit by an Austrian head of state, President Thomas Klestil arrived here Sunday for a three-day tour aimed at improving relations with Jerusalem.
Accompanied by business leaders from Austria’s 17 leading companies, Klestil said at a welcoming ceremony that he hoped his visit would mark the start of warmer ties between the two countries.
“I have embarked on this visit with the intention of opening a new chapter in our relations,” Klestil said. “With a full awareness of what has happened in the past, we may be able to build a future partnership of close cooperation and friendship.”
Israel’s relations with Austria deteriorated in recent years in the wake of accusations that Kurt Waldheim, the former Austrian president and secretary- general of the United Nations, had participated in war crimes under the Nazi regime during World War II.
Waldheim was a Nazi intelligence officer stationed in the Balkans during the war. He was been implicated in the deportations of Jews and reprisal killings of anti-Nazi partisans in the region.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
