Austria has 'European vocation'.

THE HEAD of Austria's Catholic Church has said he hopes his country will champion humane policies during its presidency of the European Union, as well as attaching "greater hope and dynamism" to the continent's future integration.

"Austria carries a weighty responsibility, with European integration surrounded by so much disappointment and scepticism," said Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, Archbishop of Vienna. "We have a European vocation, and I hope all political and social forces will place co-responsibility for Europe above their particular interests."

In an interview with Kurier daily newspaper, the 60-year-old Cardinal said that
Austrians had traditionally shown hospitality to immigrants and asylum-seekers,
whose treatment would be a policy priority during the country's six-month
presidency. "While immigration is a social problem, which should be regulated by political measures, asylum is a matter of human rights," he said. "The standards of particular member countries must reflect human rights accordingly."

Austria, which assumed the rotating presidency from Britain on 1 January, is
expected to face tough challenges securing acceptance of the EU's 2007-13
budget, provisionally agreed by ministers on 17 December 2005, as well as
preparing for a European Council debate next June on the future of EU
institutions. In a New Year message, Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel said that his Government would promote jobs, security and research and development, while also rebuilding "confidence in the European project". Austria is planning a European Human Rights Agency in Vienna, and is expected to finalise the planned 2007 accession of Romania and Bulgaria, as well as pursuing membership negotiations with Croatia and Turkey.

Cardinal Schonborn said that talks with Turkey offered a chance to promote human rights in a region that had always been "linked with European history as much through conflicts as through cooperation". He added that dialogue with Islam was forcing Europe to consider "the basic values deriving from Christianity", despite the decision not to mention Europe's "historic Christian roots" in the EU constitution. "Europe has a clearly defined frontier with the East and the Asian continent, and a changing frontier to the south and south-east. One of the toughest challenges is to demarcate the borders so as not to turn them into fortresses," he said. "In the case of Turkey, religious freedom should be held up as an inviolable value. If freedom of confession isn't guaranteed, we will be missing an exceptionally important element of the European identity." Jonathan Luxmoore, Warsaw