French Government Appears Divided in Reaction to Waldheim’s Election

President Francois Mitterrand sent Kurt Waldheim congratulations Monday on his victory in Austria’s Presidential elections. But the center-right government headed by Prime Minister Jacques Chirac appeared divided in its reaction to the election of a man accused of complicity in Nazi war crimes.

Mitterrand’s telegram to Waldheim was a formality which all heads of state usually observe toward a newly elected head of state of a friendly country. He offered his “congratulations and best wishes for the Austrian people” and expressed hope that “relations between our two peoples, close for many years, will continue in the same spirit.”

Chirac was more equivocal. Pledging to “refrain from interference in the internal policies of a friendly country,” he went on to denounce Nazi war criminals as “unpardonable.” In the case of Waldheim, he said he had “not seen anywhere conclusive proof.”

But Chirac’s Human Rights Minister, Claude Malhuret, stated in a radio interview that he would oppose any move to invite Waldheim to France in an official capacity and would “certainly” recommend that France support any decision by other governments to refuse to receive the new Austrian President. “The suspicions weighing on Kurt Waldheim are extremely important. We have no proof of his activity, but we have, in any event, the proof that he did not do what he said he did,” Malhuret said. This was apparently a reference to Waldheim’s admitted falsification of his war-time service.

But the Human Rights Minister said later it would be up to Mitterrand whether Waldheim is received in France. He explained his earlier remarks by observing that “Inasmuch as the accusations against Mr. Waldheim concerned possible human rights violations, I find it normal that as Secretary of State for Human Rights, I should have an immediate reaction.”

VEIL CRITICAL OF WJC

A different kind of reaction was expressed by Simone Veil, a former Cabinet Minister, former President of the Parliament of Europe and an Auschwitz survivor. Veil, who is Jewish, said she regretted that “in the end the World Jewish Congress undertook this affair if it did not have specific proof.” Most of the evidence of alleged war crimes by Waldheim was collected and made public by the WJC over the past four months.

The official Soviet news agency, Tass, reacted to Waldheim’s election by denouncing Israel, Zionists and the U.S. for conducting a smear campaign against the Austrian Presidential candidate.

Meanwhile in Amsterdam, Dutch public officials reacted cautiously to Waldheim’s election but their mood was generally negative. Foreign Minister Hans Van Den Broek said in a television interview Sunday night that the election was an expression of the will of the Austrian people and had to be respected. Asked if Waldheim would be welcome in Holland, he replied, “This eventuality has not yet arisen.”