Austria's opposition criticises Schuessel on Temelin

Austrian opposition parties have accused Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel and Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner of not lobbying hard enough for the interests of Austria during the EU summit in Copenhagen. Referring to the EU's refusal to have a relevant clause on the Temelin nuclear power plant included in the Czech Republic's EU membership agreement, the Deputy Leader of the Green Party, Eva Glawischnig said on Monday that Mr Schuessel had "led Austrians up the garden path". She added that the Austrian strategy had "utterly failed" as Chancellor Schuessel's conservative People's Party had always claimed that a bilateral accord with the Czech Republic on safety at the South Bohemian nuclear power station would be subject to European Court jurisdiction once the Czechs joined the EU.