Ukraine War: How neutral will Austria remain?
Nfter the turning point caused by Russia’s attack on Ukraine, one thing should remain constant, if it were up to Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer: “Austria was neutral, is neutral and will remain neutral.” That ended the debate for him, said the head of government and Chairman of the Christian Democratic ÖVP recently, confirming an earlier statement. Such Basta announcements rarely lead to a debate actually being over. But they wall in their originator and his team, which was probably the intention.
Because questioning neutrality is extremely unpopular in Austria. Even after three months of war in the near-neighborhood (the Ukrainian border is closer to Vienna than Austria’s own western border), the opinion is still the same, as a survey by the magazine “Profil” shows: 70 percent are still of the opinion that Austria should have its own True neutrality, only 16 percent want to join the Atlantic alliance. As soon as isolated statements from the ranks of ÖVP veterans such as the elected President of the National Council Andreas Khol are published, the opposition parties FPÖ and SPÖ outdo each other with outraged exclamations that the chancellor’s party is undermining neutrality. The co-governing Greens also quickly committed themselves in this direction.