TEHRAN Austria's far-right Vice-Chancellor Susanne Riess Passer urged Saturday that an EU report on the political situation in Austria include a discussion with the Freedom Party's Joerg Haider.
A commission of three "wise men" are working on the report on Austria following a mandate from the EU, which diplomatically isolated the country in February when the far-right Freedom Party under the leadership of Joerg Haider entered a coalition government.
Yet the panel declined an invitation during their short stay in Austria three weeks ago to meet with Haider, who stepped down as the official Freedom Party head in May but who many observers still believe to be pulling the party strings.
"I believe a discussion with Haider is important. To talk with Haider would have been the right thing to do," AFP reported Riess Passer as saying in an interview with the daily Die Presse in its weekend edition.
The report, which will include commentary on the evolution of the Freedom Party and the situation for minorities and immigrants here, could offer the 14 EU partners a way out of the current situation with Austria after more than six months of sanctions.
A favorable report would be good for the Freedom Party, which has been charged with being anti-foreigner and insufficiently distanced from the country's Nazi past.
Haider, whose future political ambitions are a topic of debate, would also benefit from inclusion in a positive report.