The German chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder, yesterday began his first official visit to Austria since the lifting of EU sanctions, amid claims he is snubbing the ruling People's Party (OVP).
Mr Schroder spent the first day of his visit with the opposition Social Democrats and has set aside only an hour today for talks with the Austrian Chancellor, Mr Wolfgang Schussel.
"The sanction politics are now being replaced by other means," Mr Andreas Khol, OVP party chairman, told the Austrian Kronenzeitung.
EU member-states, including Germany, froze diplomatic relations last year after Mr Schussel formed a coalition with the Freedom Party. The sanctions were lifted last September as recommended by an EU-appointed panel, but Mr Schroder has maintained his distance.
On the surface, this two-day visit was an attempt to rebuild trust between the two countries, but Mr Schroder's itinerary appears to tell a different story.
He was met at Vienna airport by the leader of the Social Democrats, Mr Alfred Gusenbauer. Other politicians complained his one-hour meeting with Mr Schussel today, to discuss next month's EU summit in Sweden, was strictly a polite formality.
After the meeting, Mr Schroder has set aside time to meet Vienna-based artists critical of the government and the Freedom Party, but he will not meet any Freedom Party members, Mr Khol said his itinerary was "designed to be offensive". He pointed out that Mr Michael Steiner, a close adviser of Mr Schroder, was the driving force behind last year's sanctions.
A spokesman for Mr Schussel denied any annoyance at Mr Schroder's itinerary, but Freedom Party members were clearly irritated.
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