Finland urges end to Austria boycott

Joerg Haider, ex-leader of the Freedom party, arrives at an EU meeting

By European Affairs correspondent William Horsley

Finland has broken ranks with other member-states of the European Union and is calling for an end to the ban on bilateral contacts with Austria.

The Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja says the diplomatic boycott of Austria should be called off.

He is arguing that the ban is counter-productive and hampering key policy decisions.

The ban was imposed two months ago because of the inclusion of the far right-wing Freedom Party in the Austrian Government.

However, the policy of cutting bilateral contacts with Austria, while asking it to cooperate in day-to-day European Union business, has caused tensions and complications.

Frozen out

Austria says that because it is being frozen out of some regular European Union discussions, it may have no choice but to block movement on some decisions which the EU is due to take this year.

These could include sweeping internal reforms and preparations for taking in more members from eastern Europe.

Mr Tuomioja is also suggesting that the boycott of Austria is a damaging the work of some international organisations, such as the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), of which Austria is this year's chairman.

If some countries want to boycott the OSCE under the pretence of the Austria ban, that goes clearly beyond what has been decided

Erkki Tuomioja

He said Finland did not want to act alone in ending the bilateral sanctions.

But he hoped that Portugal, which holds the presidency of the European Union until the end of June, would take the initiative.

However some other European governments are determined to keep Austria isolated.

Hard line

The French Government this week said it would stand firm on the sanctions policy until it judged that Austria was living up to the ideals of the European Union.

France takes over the presidency of the EU in July.

Some legal experts say this collective isolation of Austria is illegal. Privately, diplomats in some other EU countries, apart from Finland, also feel it is ill-conceived.

They say they dislike the racial prejudice of the Freedom Party's policies but that freezing ties with the Austrian Government is not the best way to counter the growth of extremist politics inside one member state of the Union.