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.
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