CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 4/2017

L’AUTRICHE CONSULAR CORPS
PROMOTION
FACTS &
FIGURES
Im Auftrag von Sierra Leone
– seit einem Vierteljahrhundert
In mission of Sierra Leone for 25
years now – and more to come
Seit die voestalpine in den 1970er Jahren in
Sierra Leone eine Eisenerzmine betrieben hat,
bestehen recht lebendige Beziehungen
zwischen Österreich und dem 7-Millionen-
Einwohner-Staat in Westafrika, einem der
ärmsten und am höchsten verschuldeten Länder
des Kontinents. Der Großvater von Wolfgang
Breitenthaler, ein früher dort aktiver Hotelausstatter,
hat ihn – damals noch für eine
Privatbank tätig – als Honorarkonsul vorgeschlagen,
wozu er dann 1992 als jüngster Honorarkonsul
Österreichs ernannt wurde. In diesem
Vierteljahrhundert hat Breitenthaler nicht nur
einen fast ein Jahrzehnt andauernden blutigen
Bürgerkrieg erlebt, sondern auch die
Opferwelle, die die 2014 ausgebrochene
Ebola-Epidemie gefordert hat. Heute betreut er
vorwiegend jene rund 300 Personen mit
Herkunft aus Sierra Leone, die momentan in
Österreich leben und versucht, die wirtschaftlichen
Beziehungen wieder anzukurbeln.
Since the Austrian steelmaker voestalpine has
been active in Sierra Leone‘s mining sector in the
1970s, Austria has built up economic ties with
this Western African country of some 7 million
people. Wolfgang Breitenthaler was proposed as
Honorary Consul by his grandfather, a
businessman active there, and appointed in
1992, then being the youngest Honorary Consul
in Austria. In the last 25 years, Mr Breitenthaler
has witnessed not only a nearly 10 years lasting
civil war but also the latest ebola epedemic from
2014. Today, he is acting on behalf of the some
300 Sierra Leoneans living in Austria.
Strand-Impressionen des westafrikanischen
Landes Sierra Leone.
An impression of life at the Atlantic seaside
of Westen African Sierra Leone.
Wolfgang Breitenthaler, seit 25 Jahren Honorarkonsul des westafrikanischen Sierra Leone, und dessen
Präsident Ernest Bai Koroma am Rande einer Unanbhängigkeitsfeier. Wolfgang Breitenthaler with Ernest
Bai Koroma, President of Sierra Leone, the Western African country he is representing as Honorary Consul.
Arbeitsaufkommen mit der Tätigkeit als
Honorarkonsul in einem Bundesland verbunden
sein – wie etwa bei Franz Gasselsberger,
dem Generaldirektor der Oberbank
und deutschem Honorarkonsul für Oberösterreich,
der alleine dort 20.000 deutsche
Staatsbürger betreut. In solchen Fällen ist
der Honorarkonsul für die jeweilige Botschaft
in Wien eben die Anlaufstelle für
alle konsularischen Fragen im Bundesland,
hier stehen meist wirtschaftliche Kontakte
sowie Förderung des Tourismus im Vordergrund.
CD: Mr Breitenthaler, what is the job description
of an Honorary Consul?
Wolfgang Breitenthaler: Honorary
Consuls are appointed according to the Vienna
Convention on Consular Relations
from 1963 which defines the ranks of such
a position – Vice Honorary Consul, Honorary
Consul and Honorary General Consul,
the same as professional consuls in embassies
have. In most cases, those states
that cannot afford an embassy of their own
in a country are appointing well-connected,
respected personalities who are able to
provide a good office infrastructure, like
entrepreneurs, lawyers or even doctors. All
of them are working without renumeration.
Before appointment, the Austrian authorities
are conducting a personal check
of the future Honorary Consul which can
take up to one year. After appointment, an
Honorary Consul may be given the right to
certification of documents, the right to issue
visas or/and the right to issue passports,
which in most cases would be a so called
‚Emergency Travel Certificate’. In short: an
Honorary Consul provides assistance in all
matters.
Did the increase of refugees and migrants to
Austria in recent years result in new challenges
for Honorary Consuls?
For those who represent countries of
migration origin, it has actually become
their main duty. Many have to conduct interviews
with asylum seekers on a regular
basis to verify their identity and credibility.
It has also become a usual business for Honorary
Consuls to visit them in prison.
What about the rights of an Honorary Consul?
In the course of carrying out an official
act, Honorary Consuls are protected by immunity
and have to be supported by the
Austrian authorities in doing so. But since
most of the Honorary Consuls do not enjoy
citizenship of the country which has appointed
them, they lack the privileges and
immunities of the Diplomatic Corps. If one
of us is driving too fast privately, he or she
has to pay the fine like anyone else.
As President of the Union of the Consular Corps in
Austria, can you give us an overlook about the
universe of Honorary Consuls in Austria?
We have some 200 Honorary Consuls in
Austria, of which 110 are members of the
UCCA which is taking care of networking
and a good relationship to the Austrian Ministry
for European and International Affairs.
The UCCA is also a member of the
FUECH, the official representative group
of all Honorary Consuls in the EU.
FOTOS: RALPH MANFREDA (1), BEIGESTELLT (3)
ENTGELTLICHE EINSCHALTUNG • PHOTO: BMWFW
Blockchain as an innovation engine
High hopes are placed in blockchain technology by
many. Currently, the application of this technology is
still in an experimental phase and promises enormous
potential in areas like finance, public administration
or the energy sector. In this context, the
World Economic Forum has forecast that as early as
in 2025, blockchain technology will account for ten
percent of gross domestic product worldwide.
A blockchain stores transaction-based interactions
as a chain of data sets and distributes this information
in a peer-to-peer network. What is special about
this is that these data sets (blocks), which may contain
one or more transactions, are stored on the computers
of all participants, which ensures transparency
and tamper-proof security. Cryptographic
methods ensure that no undetected alterations can
be made subsequently, since this would be apparent
immediately in the process of automatic matching
with the copies of other participants.
Blockchain mining software (one variant of blockchain
software) collects data, encrypts it, forms a
block and adds it to the (distributed) database. A
hash total is formed mathematically out of the data
of a block (hash function), and this hash total is then
included in the next block in order to ensure clear
assignment of the blocks to a chain. Time stamps for
each transaction and block ensure that the blocks are
appended in the blockchain in the right order.
Blockchain-based applications are a tremendous opportunity
for Austria as a location for innovation. At
the same time, they pose new challenges for the instruments
of state regulation. These technologies will
only deliver their full potential if the underpinning
motive, their functioning and both opportunities
and risks are discussed on a broad basis and interdisciplinarily
before drawing up any regulations. While
legal certainty is important, neither must the market
be overly regulated, nor the potential of blockchain
technology stifled. Austria’s goal must be to advance
into the group of innovation leaders, and accordingly,
the development and evolvement of innovations
need to be allowed also outside the existing regulatory
framework. For this purpose, so-called „sandboxes“
shall be set up, which, accompanied by competent
regulatory authorities, facilitate the experimental
use of innovative blockchain-based applications.
„9-point plan for Austria“
The experiments with blockchain are the core of germinating
crypto-economy. Clearly, we are not talking
about whether this completely digital and decentralized
economic model will prevail, but when
and how. In this context, bitcoin is only one of the
first distinctive crypto-economic applications. In
early 2017, the Federal Ministry of Science, Research
and Economy launched the „Blockchain Austria“ initiative
with a concrete „9-point plan for Austria“.
One of these measures has already been implemented:
a special research focus for crypto economics
will be launched at the Vienna University of Economics
and Business (WU) and is funded by the Federal
Ministry of Science, Research and Economy with
500,000 euros over five years.
Austria must use this window of opportunity.
By pooling resources, cooperation between science
and industry and by means of well-designed pilot
projects, Austria can be a front runner in the international
innovation contest and play a decisive role
in shaping developments in this next generation
industry.
INFO
For further information please visit the following websites:
https://www.blockchain-austria.gv.at/
https://www.bmwfw.gv.at/
78 Cercle Diplomatique 4/2017