New EU President Austria Wants "Momentum" for Europe

Articles: New EU President Austria Wants "Momentum" for Europe

Posted by admin on Sunday, January 01, 2006 - 06:44 PM

Austria Sunday began on a musical note its six-month presidency of the European Union, to which it wants to provide a "vitamin boost" by trying to reopen the debate on the constitution and growth.

Austrian Chancellor Schüssel and Angela Merkel toast the New Year

<em class="caption">Austrian Chancellor Schüssel and German Chancellor Angela Merkel toast the New Year

After a terrible year for Europe in 2005, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, whose country takes over from Britain, started the year in harmony, attending the famous New Year's concert in Vienna in the company of his German counterpart Angela Merkel, a fellow Christian Democrat.

Aside from the traditional Strauss waltzes, the program featured pieces by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whose 250th birthday this year will be another cause for celebrations in Austria.

"Austria especially wants to use its presidency to bring Europe closer to its citizens and increase confidence in the European project," Schüssel said Saturday evening in a message to his mostly euroskeptic countrymen published on the Internet.

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