[Beginning of February], 1984
East-West Talks in Vienna Resumed
Having decided that the Mutual and Balanced Force Reduction (MBFR) Conference in Vienna will be resumed in March; East-West talks have been set in motion again.
Innsbruck, February 10, 1984
Yuri Andropov (1914-1984)
With due respect, the world community has received the news that Yuri Andropov, the head of state of the USSR, passed away. Despite having been secretive for months, it could not have remained a secret that Andropov was ailing and that he was mortally ill. His demise has, therefore, not come as a surprise. As he had been in office for only 15 months, Andropov remained a transitional figure who was holding on to the status quo. The Kremlin is again facing a leadership crisis. Only in the months ahead, will it become apparent who within the Central Committee of the Communist Party will be strong enough to take over the leadership. One may also hope that the new leadership in the Kremlin will seek a new relationship to the West.
[After the death of Leonid Brezhnev in November 1982, Yuri Andropov was elected general secretary of the Communist Party of the USSR. And from June 1983 to his death on February 9, 1984, he was head of state of the USSR.]
February 11, 1984
In Exile
In a French television interview at his home in Vermont, Alexander Solzhenitzyn said that he had only one more great wish: To finish his epic work on the Russian Revolution (vol. 1, August 1914, has already appeared) and to see his homeland again. No doubt, Solzhenitzyn shares the destiny of the émigrés of the 1930s and ‘40s. He cherishes the United States as a refuge, a place of freedom and security, but he feels to be a stranger and not understood in the new environment. He is worried that as a writer he could lose the liveliness and authenticity of his native tongue. Also Adorno, Thomas Mann, Brecht and many other authors in exile had expressed similar concerns.
February 12, 1984
The Lesson from the Year 1934
Fifty years ago today, on February 12, 1934, civil war broke out in Austria, when the Schutzbund (home front defense alliance) and the Heimwehr (Austrian militia) started to shoot at each other. From that moment on, the First Republic plunged into an abrupt abyss. Endless suffering came down upon the Austrian people. From the events of 1934, a lesson can be learned: The parliamentary democracy has to be taken seriously, the dialogue between parties and political adversaries should never break off and turn into violence.
Innsbruck, [Middle of February], 1984
Impressions on Passing By
There, Karl Rahner was going along the Inn River Promenade, supported by a fellow brother of the Jesuit Order. 80 years of age, physically frail, but his face still showing a keen intellect, he is a venerable figure who inspires reverence.
Innsbruck, February 24, 1984
The Blockade of the Transit Traffic
How vulnerable the European Common Market can be, is being demonstrated these days by the blockade of trucks at the Brenner Pass. A work-to-rule campaign by the Italian customs officers has caused veritable chaos on the European transit roads - at first in France and now in Austria. About 2,000 trucks are standing on the Autobahn from Rosenheim to Kufstein to the Brenner Pass. A similiar situation can be observed on all border crossings to Italy. The blockade of the transit traffic by the delayed customs clearance not only makes the feelings of the truck drivers run high, but it also affects the transport of goods in the entire Common Market area. What a burden the borders as well as the obsolete customs regulations still are!