As the new Austrian coalition prepared for government, Europe's press focused on the EU warnings to Vienna over the inclusion of the right-wing Freedom Party in the administration.

A commentary in Germany's Die Welt wondered whether the EU's reaction would in fact strengthen the hand of Freedom Party leader Joerg Haider.

"The German federal government and its EU partners have acted as badly as possible. They are pursuing a goal whose pursuit is justified, but they are doing it with means, methods and a tone such that they will probably not only miss their target but devalue it."

"It will be interesting to see who will cause more damage to 'Europe' in the coming weeks: the anti-liberal enemy of Europe, Joerg Haider, or those have gone forth to save Europe and its national interests from him. It is a sad race," commentator Nikolaus Blome wrote.

Racist postures

This view was shared by Spain's Diario, which said it was "undoubtedly necessary for Europe to raise its voice as loudly as possible to show its rejection of the Freedom Party's racist postures". But it was "unclear if the EU's threats will serve any purpose".

"It may even be counterproductive," the paper warned.

In France, Le Monde disagreed, saying the EU intervention had been "unprecedented" but correct.

"Monday 31st January 2000 will go down in European history as the day when, for the first time, the European Union accorded itself the right to interfere in the internal politics of one of its members," the paper said.

Welcoming sign

The liberal German daily Frankfurter Rundschau concurred, welcoming what it saw as a sign that the EU was looking beyond economics.

It noted fears that the European response could be counter-productive, recalling Austrian resentment of foreign opposition to former President Kurt Waldheim over his Nazi past, but concluded that the blame did not lie with the EU.

"Those who would stop Europe's protesting politicians from speaking lest they end up simply giving Haider a leg-up are turning things on their head. The leg-up came from a virtually pre-democratic 13-year grand coalition in Austria," the paper said.

It added that Haider was now being given his chance by "a power-hungry People's Party chief [Wolfgang] Schuessel".

In Hungary, Nepszabadsag viewed the advance of the right wing in Austria in broader terms.

"The extreme right gaining office in a country bordering Hungary could provide foreign backing for the elevation of the Nazi language to political respectability," the daily warned.

"Even those beginning history courses know that the extreme right is strong or gains in strength in those countries where social tensions are intense and where there is... no credible left-wing to articulate the dissatisfaction of the people."

'Treated like Serbia'

In Austria itself, Der Standard compared the EU's behaviour to its treatment of Serbia.

"The tone of the threat... is exaggerated," the paper said. "Although no sanctions have been imposed... one gets the feeling that Austria is being treated like Serbia."

"Is the EU out of its mind?" Vienna's Die Presse asked.

"Where was the uproar when post-fascists and right-wing populists came to power in Italy? Where is the outrage against those communists in today's EU governments who have only half, or not at all, distanced themselves from that system... which belongs to the bloodiest in history?"

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.