The International Press Institute (IPI) today announced the inclusion of recently re-elected Austrian President Heinz Fischer in its World Congress programme.

This is the fourth time IPI has held its World Congress in Austria. The Federal President will participate at the Opening Dinner of the Congress, which will be held in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna on Sunday, 12 September 2010, making him the first Austrian president to be involved in an IPI World Congress.

“I fully support the work of this renowned organisation in the pursuit of press freedom”, Dr. Fischer said today. “I am also pleased to note that this year’s IPI World Congress will be held in the ‘twin cities’ of Vienna and Bratislava, which share close historical and cultural ties, but were neighbours in a divided Europe.”

He added: “In the years that IPI has been based in Vienna, it has provided tremendous support and assistance to journalists well beyond our borders, but also to those closer to home, in pursuing that honourable goal: furthering and safeguarding freedom of the press and promoting understanding between peoples.”

Dr. Fischer has shown his support for IPI before, giving the closing address as the then-President of the Parliament in 2002 during the “10 Years of IPI in Vienna” celebrations.  His predecessor, President Thomas Klestil, was also involved in the 2002 celebrations, hosting a reception at the Presidential Offices in the Hofburg.  Former Austrian Chancellors Julius Raab, Fred Sinowatz and Wolfgang Schüssel attended the Congresses in Vienna (1954 and 1986) and Salzburg (2003), respectively.

Fischer, first elected in 2004 and re-elected last April, is joined in the programme for the three-day event, to be co-hosted in Vienna and Bratislava, by Michael Spindelegger, Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs and his opposite number Miroslav Lajčák, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic.

Spindelegger, appointed Austrian Foreign Minister in December 2008, will speak at the Opening Ceremony on Sunday, 12 September, alongside IPI Director David Dadge and IPI Chairman, and Editor-in-Chief of Helsingin Sanomat, Janne Virkkunen.

The final day of the Congress will be held at Cerveny Kamen Castle, north east of the Slovak capital of Bratislava.  Slovak Foreign Minister Lajčák will give a keynote address during the panel on “Reporting on Extremist Politicians – How New and Traditional Media Cover the Politics of the Extreme.”  Participants for that session include Alexandra Föderl-Schmid, Editor-in-Chief of Austrian daily Der Standard, Sergej Danilov and Gábor Miklósi, investigative reporters for Rádio Expres in the Slovak Republic and Index.hu, Budapest, respectively, and Jim Clancy, an anchor for CNN International.

This year’s IPI World Congress marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of IPI, and will be held in Vienna, Austria, and Bratislava, Slovakia, from 11-14 September 2010. Entitled “Thinking the Unthinkable: Are We Losing the News? (Media Freedom in the New Media Landscape)”, the Congress will focus attention on the state of the news media, providing new business models and solutions for the media, and examples of how freedom of the press can survive in this new media environment.

Parallel to the World Congress, IPI will also hold a “New Media & High-Tech Innovations Exhibition,” showcasing the latest in media technologies and information platforms.

To see the biographies of all the speakers, as well as more about the programme topics and the IPI World Congress in general, visit the official Congress website: www.ipiworldcongress.com.

All the latest news about the Congress and updates on the issues to be discussed in September can be found on the IPI Congress Website (www.ipiworldcongress.com), or by following the Congress team on Twitter at IPI_WoCo2010 or by visiting our Facebook Page.

IPI’s partners for the Congress include: Google; Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd; OMV; Bank Austria – Member of UniCredit Group; Telekom Austria Group; City of Vienna; The Federation of Austrian Industries (IV); SITA – Slovak News Agency; Slovak Tourist Board (SACR); Slovak Electricity Transmission System, Plc. (SEPS); Slovak Telekom; The Bratislava Culture and Information Centre (BKIS); Kooperativa poisťovňa a. s.Vienna Insurance Group; Slovak Health Spa Piestany; Minerálna voda Mitická; Prva stavebna sporitelna (PSS); Austrian Airlines; The Twin City Liner.

Media partners include: APA – Austria Press Agency, ORF – Austrian Broadcasting Corporation; Der Standard and News Portal Webnoviny.sk.