Austrian dignitary to participate in 'Austria-Illinois Day' on Oct. 6

A group of top experts - including the former vice chancellor of the
Federal Republic of Austria - will debate the status of the "New Europe"
during a free public panel discussion Oct. 6 at the UI.

Erhard Busek, the former vice chancellor who now is the president of the
Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe, also will give a free
public lecture.

The panel discussion, "Austrian and American Perspectives on the New
Europe," is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. in the University YMCA. The lecture on
"The New Dynamic: Austria in the Emerging Europe" is at 2:30 p.m. in the
same location.

Other panelists from Austria include Gerald Kriechbaum, consul general of
the Federal Republic of Austria, Chicago; and Heinrich Stremitzer, head of
the department of insurance, Vienna University of Economics and Business
Administration.

Panelists from the UI faculty are Paul Diehl and Carol Leff, political
science, and Larry Neal, economics. Roger Kanet, director of the UI
International Programs and Studies, and associate vice chancellor for
academic affairs, will moderate the panel.

According to Bruce Murray, resident director of the  UI Austria-Illinois
Exchange Program in Vienna, Busek is "an eminent politician and scholar"
who "has devoted much of his career to strengthening the ties between
Austria and its neighbors to the East and West." Busek has served as
federal representative, general secretary and federal chair of the Austrian
People's Party, vice mayor of Vienna, and most recently, federal minister
of science and research.

The events are part of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the
Austria-Illinois student exchange program, coordinated by the department of
Germanic languages and literatures. Oct. 6 has been designated
"Austria-Illinois Day."