Geoffrey Lee, Planefocus Ltd
VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria will not
decide whether to scrap its fleet of Eurofighter jets until a parliamentary
inquiry into their purchase wraps up and there is clarity over a judicial
dispute related to the deal, the country’s leader said on Wednesday.
Chancellor
Sebastian Kurz’s comments suggest it will be months or longer before the
government reaches a decision that it had said it would announce this year.
Newspaper
Die Presse reported last week the coalition government was split over whether
to get rid of the jets, with Kurz’s conservatives favoring keeping them and the
far-right Freedom Party, which controls the Defense Ministry, taking the
opposite view. The dispute is delaying a decision, it added.
“It is
important to reach a decision when you are able to,” Kurz told a news
conference after a weekly cabinet meeting, when asked about a possible delay.
Austria
is locked in a legal battle with planemaker Airbus and the Eurofighter
consortium, which also includes BAE Systems and Italy’s Leonardo.
Vienna accuses
them of fraud and wilful deception in connection with its $2 billion
Eurofighter order in 2003. They deny Austria’s allegations.
“We need
clarity on whether anyone has done anything wrong, on whether partners
currently being worked with have done anything wrong and when there is clarity
on this then we will be able to reach further decisions,” Kurz said, referring
to the legal dispute and an ongoing parliamentary inquiry.
Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing
by Mark Potter
Source: www.reuters.com
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