From the Editor

Dear Readers,

meran_new.jpgThe Austrian State Treaty was concluded in 1955 after a negotiating marathon involving eight years of diplomatic talks with no less than 400 meetings between Allied representatives. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice contributed an article on the occasion of its 50th Anniversary celebration in Vienna.

Fot the seventh time the Austrian Embassy in Washington, D.C. co-hosted an event which this year included awardees such as Muhammad Ali and two former gang leaders of Prince George's County, Maryland.

Two veterans of the Austrian Civil Service were recently decorated in Washington, D.C..

Read about the heroic life of an Austrian refugee; and find out more about Austria's 2004 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Yours sincerely,
Christoph Meran

Hannes Richter