Reagan Assures Vranitzky on Waldheim Issue

The head of Austria’s government said today he was told by President Reagan that American law--not ill feeling toward the Austrian people--required the United States to bar Austrian President Kurt Waldheim for alleged involvement in World War II persecutions.

Chancellor Franz Vranitzky told reporters after a half-hour meeting at the White House that Reagan personally made clear that he agreed with a U.S. ruling approved by Secretary of State George P. Shultz to bar Waldheim from the United States.

Today, Vranitzky said, “The President raised the point at the beginning of our conversation and left the impression with me that he’s exactly in line with Mr. Shultz.”

The Austrian leader said he was told that “the American Administration could not act in any other way than they did following the U.S. law” and that the American officials repeated assurances the measure against Waldheim “was not directed against the Austrian people, the Austrian government.”

Whole Country Under Cloud

Earlier, however, Vranitzky said in a television interview, “We cannot get rid of the impression that there has been a decision which brings the whole country into that kind of shaky light where we think we do not belong.”

He also said the U.S. action was unwarranted based on Waldheim’s role during the war and the friendly relationship between the two countries.

Vranitzky had billed his trip to the United States as an effort to explain Austrian dissatisfaction with the U.S. action.

Recent published reports indicate that Austrian support for Waldheim is waning. Asked if Waldheim should resign, Vranitzky said the decision remains with him.

“But I don’t think we have arrived at the status in which we’re discussing anything like that,” he said. “The Austrian government has clearly declared that the government will be on the side of Waldheim as long as . . . there are unjustified accusations.”