Chancellor Fred Sinowatz’s Socialist-led coalition government weathered a political crisis last Friday when Parliament voted 98-80 against a non-confidence motion by the opposition Peoples Party.
The motion was introduced after Sinowatz refused to demand the resignation of Defense Minister Friedhelm Frischenschlager who raised a political storm 10 days ago when he personally welcomed Austrianborn Nazi war criminal Walter Reder, returning to his native land after nearly 40 years in an ltalian prison for the mass murder of civilians in ltaly during World War 11.
Frischenschlager is a member of the Freedom Party, Sinowatz’s coalition partner. Although many Socialist members of Parliament joined in the public outcry for his resignation, they observed party discipline in the voting.
Sinowatz clearly was out to save his coalition government and, after accepting Frischenschlager’s formal apology for the incident last week, said he would resign himself if Parliament forced the Defense Minister’s ouster.
The Chancellor conceded that Frischenschlager’s presence at Graz airport on January 24 when Reder landed from ltaly was a “grave political mistake.” But he accepted the Minister’s explanation that he had gone there simply to make sure the war criminal’s return was without media coverage or possible protest demonstrations. The media did get the story however and, according to its accounts, Frischenschlager shook Reder’s hand and greeted him as the last Austrian prisoner of war to come home. (By Reinhard Engel)
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
