AUSTRIA: Mission to Moscow

"Austria will be free," Chancellor Julius Raab triumphantly telephoned back from Moscow to Vienna. "We get back our homeland in its entirety. The war prisoners and other prisoners will see their fatherland again." The Austrian state radio burst into Strauss waltzes and victory marches. The little band of Austrians headed by Raab himself had had little reason to hope for such success when they took off for Moscow last week. For ten long years, and through close to 400 negotiating sessions, the Russians had blocked every Western move to end the occupation of the country which they had promised, as far back as 1943, to treat as a "liberated" country, entitled to be "free and independent." Molotov at Berlin last year bluntly said no even when Austria and the three Western occupying powers agreed to accept all Soviet conditions. Soviet forces must remain in Austria, Molotov hastily insisted, until a German peace treaty was signed. But a few months ago Russia abruptly changed its tune, suggested that Raab come to Moscow to talk things over. Shining Sun. It was snowing on the Moscow airport. Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov remarked to a Western diplomat that he had hoped for better weather to greet the Austrians. Said the diplomat: "In these cases, Mr. Minister, the weather that matters is the weather you find when you leave." Interjected Deputy Prime Minister Anastas Mikoyan: "You can be sure the sun will be shining when they leave." The sun of Soviet officialdom beamed from the moment the Austrian plane touched down. The Austrians were wined, dined and feted, and the bonhomie spilled over in all directions. At a reception given by Molotov, U.S. Ambassador Charles Bohlen offered a toast to the speedy restoration of Austria's independence; Molotov declared it a good toast, and drank. So did Premier Nikolai Bulganin. Austrian Foreign Minister Leopold Figl boldly proposed one "to the end of the occupation of Austria—ten years is long enough." Without blinking an eye, the Russians drank to that one, too. The Austrians reported fully on every step to the ambassadors of the Western Big Three. Raab has long been willing to concede more to the Russians, for the sake of independence, than his Western friends were willing to have him concede, and after every bargaining session, the Western ambassadors inspected the Austrians carefully to be sure they had not inadvertently lost their shirts. But the Russians seemed full of nothing but good will. The visit ended with a long and bibulous dinner in the Kremlin, given by Premier Bulganin himself, and Chancellor Raab, unable to contain himself until he got back, happily telephoned his good news to his People's Party headquarters in Vienna. Promise & Price. In those four hectic days, the Russians briskly disposed of all obstacles they themselves had raised in ten years. They made real concessions. The big one: agreement that all occupation troops be withdrawn immediately after the state treaty is signed, "and in any case not later than Dec. 31, 1955."