Matthias Wurz

“Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker.” The lower sensual range of Dutch-born actress and mezzo-soprano Susan Rigvava-Dumas’ powerful voice floated across the neo-Renaissance Café Central. And almost whispering to the delicate accompaniment of the rhythm section of the Vienna-based mini-big-band Project Two – “wherever you’re going I’m going your way.”

“Reporting on EU Affairs is boring, and it’s not the journalists’ fault,” said Giles Merritt, editor of the journal Brussels-based Europe’s World and Secretary General of the think-tank Friends of Europe.

Merritt’s remarks were made at the international symposium ‘Public Opinion and Europe’ held at the Diplomatic Academy on May 6 – 7, chaired by former Austrian Foreign Minister Peter Jankowitsch.

It was Apr. 2, early in the evening when I received the confirmation via email: an accreditation by the Czech President’s office for the visit of U.S. President Barack Obama with Czech President Vaclav Klaus on Palm Sunday, Apr. 5.

There was only one catch: I could only go as a photographer for the Welcoming Ceremony at the castle, also a chance for getting closer to the man. For Obama’s long-expected speech on his vision of peace and non-proliferation at Hradčany Square, I had to take a pass.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), found cause to celebrate this year: On Apr. 4, 1949, the collective defense alliance was founded in Brussels on the eve of the Cold War. Sixty years later and now with 28 member states – Croatia and Albania were formally accepted this year – the organizationset out to redefine its role after the collapse of communism 20 years ago.

The Problem of ‘Toxic Assets’

“Our job is to fix the problem in the financial sector at the least risk to the taxpayer,” said U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Mar. 23. Supported by President Barack Obama, Geithner unveiled yet another bailout plan for the struggling U.S. financial system.

The tiny and fragile Walter Arlen (b. 1920) in his dark suit and tie sat calmly at the left side of the stage at the back, at a small table, a glass of water at his hand. A microphone clipped to his jacket, he seemed tired as this concert in his honor drew to a close after more than two hours.

For those intimately acquainted with the music of renowned Austrian composer of the atonal, the newly opened exhibition at the Arnold Schönberg Center is a revelation. This 10th anniversary exhibition -- 'Longing for the North: the Northern Modern Movement in Schönberg's Vienna of 1900' -- provides a rare but nevertheless spectacular retrospective of paintings by multi-talented Schönberg (1874 -- 1951), as well as of playwright August Strindberg (1849 -- 1912) and Norwegian painter Edward Munch (1863 -- 1944).

Saturday, Jan. 17, was a historic moment for Austria’s Green Party.
On the party congress, held in Klagenfurt, Eva Glawischnig, the nominated new party leader succeeding Alexander van der Bellen, received 97. 4% of delegates’ votes (228 of 234), a truly remarkable result and the highest approval rate for any Green Party leader in its history.
Party officials hail this convincing result as a sign of unity of the party, severely shaken after its disappointing election result of Sept. 2008, where the Green Party dropped to the fifth place in parliament with 10. 4%, unable to defend the third place (11 %) of 2006.