Austrian chancellor raps EU in bid to shore up support (AFP)

by Gabrielle Grenz Sat Jun 28, 10:56 PM ET VIENNA (AFP) - Austria's Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer tapped into anti-EU sentiment last week in a bid to shore up his tenuous position, announcing that all future European treaties would be subject to a referendum. But the unilateral move by the chancellor, who was recently dumped as head of his Social Democratic party, caused further division within the coalition government that is in the midst of pushing through unpopular reforms. Gusenbauer made the surprise announcement Thursday, without consulting his conservative coalition partners, in an open letter to the editor of the eurosceptic Kronen Zeitung tabloid. "A lot of people have the impression that the EU isn't dealing with their problems but only cares about itself," he wrote, a fact borne out by a recent Eurobarometer poll... [read full story]