Austria's government on Tuesday postponed the planned sale of two alpine summits after an outpouring of national outrage. Austria's privatization agency announced a decision after an emergency meeting between Economics Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner and top officials in charge of selling of national property to the private sector.
"We have suspended the sale to evaluate alternative possibilities," agency spokesman Ernst Eichinger said on the telephone. He said the transaction would likely go ahead but buyers would be restricted to "Austrian institutions" instead of the highest free-market bidders.
The peaks are in the easternmost part of Tyrol province, home to some of Europe's highest mountain ranges.
The "Rosskopf" is 2,600 meters (over 8,500 feet) high, the "Grosse Kinigat" nearly 2,700 meters (8,800 feet). They are on offer for 121,000 euros — nearly $175,000.
Austria is fiercely proud of its alpine ranges — its national hymn begins with the worlds "Land of Mountains" — and news over the weekend that the two summits were up for sale next month quickly went viral. Local and opposition politicians had also spoken out against the deal, and Eichinger says his office was bombarded with calls and e-mails with contents ranging from "indignation to abuse."
By GEORGE JAHN taken from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110614/ap_on_re_eu/eu_austria_mountains_for_sale
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