Waldheim Pledges to Open a Dialogue with Austrian Jews and to Fight Religious, Ethnic Discrimination

President-elect Kurt Waldheim pledged Wednesday to “make particular efforts to open up a dialogue, especially with our Jewish citizens” and to “make every attempt to counteract all forms of religious, racial or ethnic discrimination.”

Waldheim spoke at his first press conference since winning the Presidential run-off elections last Sunday after a campaign in which anti-Semitic feelings were aroused among the electorate.

This was seen as a backlash against charges by Jewish and non-Jewish groups abroad, backed by substantial documentary evidence, that Waldheim was involved in war crimes when he served as a Wehrmacht intelligence officer in the Balkans during World War II.

The President-elect, who will be sworn into the largely ceremonial office on July 8, made scant reference to the controversy surrounding his alleged Nazi past. Asked how he defined Jews, the former United Nations Secretary General replied, “They are citizens exactly like the others. In our country its a religious minority, a minority like the Croats or Slovaks.”

FIGHT FOR SECURE ISRAEL

He pledged to “stand up for a policy that secures Israel’s right to exist and predicted that Israel would continue to maintain good relations with Austria once it is proven that there was “nothing” reprehensible in his past. Israel reacted to Waldheim’s election by recalling its Ambassador to Vienna, Michael Elitzur.

Waldheim said he saw “no problems” in being received abroad as Austria’s head of State, observing that he knew “most of the heads of state and government personally.”

The U.S. Department of Justice is considering a recommendation by the head of its Office of Special Investigations (OSI), Neal Sher, that Waldheim be placed on the “watch list” barring individuals accused of war crimes from entering the U.S. But even if the Justice Department agrees, Waldheim would be immune to the ban for his six year tenure as President of Austria.