European Union lifts diplomatic sanctions against Austria

VIENNA, Austria - European Union members lifted diplomatic sanctions against Austria on Tuesday after an investigating committee concluded the measures had stoked the very nationalistic fervor they were designed to punish.

The sanctions were imposed in February after conservative Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel brought members of the far-right Freedom Party into his coalition government. Schuessel hailed the decision to lift the measures as ''a great success for Austria.''

Vice Chancellor Susanne Riess-Passer, the current leader of the Freedom Party, said a ''dark chapter has ended.'' She added that the decision to end the sanctions affirmed that citizens of individual EU member states ''have the right to determine their own government.''

Announcing an end to the sanctions, the French government, which holds the European Union's rotating presidency and which spearheaded the sanctions, said the measures had been useful and ''they can now be lifted.''

The statement said the EU would remain ''especially vigilant'' about the Freedom Party, which campaigned against immigration and EU expansion in the run-up to last year's parliamentary elections. The Freedom Party finished second among the six national political parties.

Joerg Haider, the Freedom Party's best-known figure and its former leader, had long been criticized for remarks made years ago sympathetic toward aspects of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime.

Under the sanctions, Austria's 14 EU partners broke off bilateral political contacts, restricted the promotion of Austrians at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, and gave Austrian ministers the cold shoulder at EU meetings. The diplomatic measures also included boycotts of school trips, cultural exchanges and military exercises.

Although the measures had little impact on ordinary Austrians, they triggered a backlash among the Austrian public, which considered them an affront to the nation.

The measures also led to an outcry in Denmark and other small EU countries fearful of domination by France, Germany and other major powers in the grouping. The Danish government lobbied to end the sanctions before the Sept. 28 national referendum on whether to join the common European currency, the euro.

Political leaders in some former communist countries seeking EU membership, such as Poland and the Czech Republic, complained that imposing sanctions on a democratic government represented a violation of sovereignty similar to controls imposed by the former Soviet Union on its Eastern European satellites.

Last week, a three-member committee appointed to study the issue concluded that the sanctions ''already triggered nationalistic feelings in Austria'' primarily because they were seen as directed against the Austrian people rather than the government.

The report also said the measures had become ''counterproductive'' and should be ended. It found that Austria was ''respectful of common European values'' and had demonstrated respect for the rights of immigrants, refugees and minorities.

Despite the recommendation, Schuessel said one undisclosed EU member, presumably France, had mounted a last-ditch effort to suspend, rather than lift, the sanctions and to establish an ''official mechanism'' to monitor Austrian compliance with EU principles.

He attributed the decision to lift the sanctions immediately to Austria's ''patience and steadfastness.''

''Today no one has lost face,'' Schuessel told reporters. ''However, a dark veil has fallen from the face of Europe.''