Austria: always the class of Europe (this time on Turkey's admission to the EU)

■"European Talks Stall on Turkey As Austria Holds Out Resistance," by Graham Bowley, New York Times, 3 October 2005, p. A8.

I spent two weeks once in Austria on a CIA-sponsored (okay, through Voice of America) conference that brought together future leaders from about 40 states (all over Europe, Mideast, Latin America, Asia, and a few Africans) for two weeks of getting to know one another and think about the future of the world. It was pretty cool, because it was held at the same estate where they shot "The Sound of Music" way back when (yeah, the very same cool lake in the back where Julie and the kids fall in).

Anyway, there was a decent contingent of Austrians there, including one of the most anti-American Europeans I have ever met (Her question to me: "Being an American, what are you most ashamed about regarding your country?" My reply, "That we let you Nazi collaborators off with "The Sound of Music").

I remember my time in Austria quite vividly, because almost right next door in the (now) former Republic of Yugoslavia there was all sorts of genocidal "ethnic cleansing" going on (this was 1993), and yet, no one in Austria seemed to feel any need to do anything about it. It was a weird sort of, out of sight, not my problem mindset that I found kind of stunning, like the place and the people had no sense of time or history or responsibility. It was "Twilight Zone"-like. I felt like the "Prisoner" from that old Brit series: you could raise all the questions you wanted on the subject, but it was clear that America really was "number 1" and there wasn't any "number 2" to be found. No, that would be telling Ö

So no surprise here on which EU state seems the most vehement about keeping those "guest worker" types out of the Christian club.

Right on the eve of the historic direct talks on membership, Austria is the lone holdout on starting them, insisting that Turkey be offered nothing more than second-tier membership. Twenty-four other EU countries say otherwise, but Austria holds firm, consistent to a history of racism that is stunning. Austria is the Rhode Island of Europe: insular like you can't believe until you actually spend some time there.

Naturally, one is tempted to cite the usual domestic politics, and indeed, an election looms in Austria. Some expert this showy resistance to go away once it is complete, but ask yourself, what does that still say about Austrian society that this is such an obvious play for attention?