President Kurt Waldheim of Austria will not be among the heads of state attending the official opening on October 4 of the Easter Scheldt Dam, a major new hydraulic power project. Austria will be represented by its Foreign Minister, P. Jankevitsch, and speculation is rife here as to whether the Dutch government discreetly advised Waldheim to stay away or the Austrians themselves decided it would be better to avoid possible protest demonstrations against their controversial President.
Waldheim was elected July 8 despite over-whelming evidence of a Nazi past. This was long after Queen Beatrix invited the heads of all Rhine-Danube border states to the dam inaugural. Although several governments have stated that Waldheim would not be welcome, Holland took no position. It was apparently assumed that Waldheim would be wise enough not to visit.
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