WEF shuns Austria and chooses Eire

national | miscellaneous | news report Thursday January 09, 2003 18:36 by o5st

no World Economic Forum in Salzburg - Austria

this year there's definitely gonna be no WEF in Salzburg. the hosts move their summit to the Irish capital, Dublin.

Klaus Schwab, founder of the WEF, has announced this decision in a letter to Salzburg mayor Heinz Schaden. he did not explain this move Ireland.

the WEF summit w.r.t. Eastern Europe has been held in Salzburg 7 times - from 1996 to 2002. For the last two years the summit has been acompanied by protests and alternative summits, held by social movements / Austria Social Forum (ASF). At a 2001 antiWEF demonstration about 900 peaceful activists had been enclosed by police near the red zone for hours in what started to look like a big beatup

that much, from the austrian broadcasters (http://salzburg.orf.at/oesterreich.orf?read=detail&channel=5&id=238749). it looks like we've thrown them out. not by violent protests, but by just showing them they were not welcome. at both alternative summits 2001, as well as 2002, there was a WEF/ASF confrontation with 4 members of each organisation at the mikes and lots of not that benign audience. seems like they got the message

good luck! c u in dublin