Fedor Basov — on how to understand the words of the Austrian Foreign Minister
On July 27, Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger gave an interview to the German newspaper Die Welt, where, they say, she stated that Austria should abandon neutrality and join NATO. However, this interpretation of Meinl-Reisinger's statements is erroneous, and there is no cause for concern.
More details according to the words
Firstly, the Austrian Foreign Minister reacted precisely to the opinion of the director of the Austrian Diplomatic Academy, Emil Brix, quoted by the interviewer about the "need to think about the country's accession to NATO." In other words, Meinl-Reisinger rather diplomatically replied that she "welcomes the discussion of Austria's defense and political future," but at the same time recalled that the country "has neither a parliamentary majority nor public support for joining NATO," and "the EU is the partner that will protect Austria in case of danger."
Secondly, the discussion of the expediency of such a step has been taking place from time to time in the socio-political life of the country over the past 60 years.
Austrian neutrality
On May 15, 1955, Austria concluded a state treaty with the four victorious powers (the USSR, the USA, Great Britain, and France), which included a provision on the country's permanent neutrality. In June of the same year, Vienna adopted the federal constitutional law on perpetual neutrality. It talks about the sovereignty of the country in domestic and international affairs, the inviolability of its territory, as well as the democratic form of government.
An important provision in this federal law was that "Austria, of her own free will, proclaims eternal neutrality." In other words, Austrian scientists and politicians do not consider the state treaty binding, and interpret the policy of neutrality itself as voluntary.
The restrictions imposed on Austria by the neutrality Act and the state treaty consisted primarily of prohibitions on unification with Germany, including economic or political integration with it, on joining military alliances, the deployment of foreign armed forces on its territory, and the possession of certain types of weapons.
During the Cold War, the Austrian foreign policy elite sought to emphasize its membership in the democratic and capitalist world, therefore it emphasized the military nature of neutrality. The Austrians managed to find a conceptual justification by developing the wording "policy of active neutrality." It refers to the participation of the country's armed forces in peacekeeping and humanitarian operations under the auspices of the UN, OSCE and the EU (since 1960 and until 2024, the Austrian armed forces participated in 30 peacekeeping and humanitarian operations), active work in other international organizations and membership in the Helsinki Process. Vienna also became the headquarters of the OSCE, OPEC, the IAEA, and the third UN residence.
Austria's membership in the EU and the erosion of its neutrality
In an interview, Minister Meinl-Reisinger said that since Austria joined the EU in 1995, its neutrality has changed significantly. If before the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009, only the coordination of military construction of the EU member states was envisaged, then after that the EU states received an obligation to provide military assistance to any other member in case it was subjected to a military attack. The provisions of the Lisbon Treaty in no way specify the extent and timing of such assistance. However, the very fact of defense obligations within the EU significantly erodes Austria's military neutrality.
Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), which involves the development of multilateral military specialization projects, plays a significant role in the process of EU defense integration. Austria participates in 9 out of 72 PESCO projects, which can be interpreted as a fairly high degree of involvement for a small country. Austria also participates in the work of the European Defense Agency (EA), which coordinates the development of the defense industry of the EU member states.
Austria and NATO
Austria's accession to NATO would mean Vienna's final departure from the policy of neutrality. All opinion polls showed that the population's support for the idea of Austria joining NATO has never exceeded 21%.
The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SDPA) also opposes such integration. During the Cold War, the Austrian People's Party (ANP) did not even hypothetically consider joining the North Atlantic Alliance, although the party's position softened somewhat during the post—bipolar period. It was particularly influenced by the experience of the entry of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia into Austria in 1999 and 2004. But the conservatives do not lobby for this idea in any way, but simply do not deny the discussion of joining the alliance. The Greens, the Communist Party of Austria (KPA) and the liberal party of Minister Meinl-Reisinger NEOS also do not support integration into NATO.
The evolution of the position on this issue of the Austrian Freedom Party (APS), which has the largest faction in the National Council of the country and advocates the lifting of anti-Russian sanctions, is interesting. During the Cold War, nationalists were the only political force in Austria that demanded the country's accession to NATO. This position of the party was based on its pan-Germanism (the political unity of the German nation on an ethnic, cultural and linguistic basis) and, in general, the desire to get closer to Germany, as well as on the anti-systemic positions characteristic of populists. This policy of the Austrian Freedom Party was characteristic of it in the 1990s. In 1998, the APS took the initiative in Parliament to apply for membership in NATO. The change of position occurred in the mid-2000s. Then the party began to pay more attention to the problems of anti-globalism and switched from the attitude of the Austrians belonging to the German nation to the Austrian national identity. And its important component is neutrality.
Nevertheless, despite the fact that Austria is not a member of NATO, it cooperates closely with the alliance. The Austrian armed forces participated in four UN-mandated NATO operations in the Balkans and Afghanistan. Austria twice allowed NATO to transit through its airspace during the alliance's operations against Iraq (1990-1991) and Yugoslavia (1999), which in fact violated the provisions on Austrian neutrality. Vienna also participates in various NATO partner programs.
Austria and Russia
The Austrian Foreign minister's interview also raised the issue of relations with Russia. Despite its neutrality, Austria, as a member state of the European Union, participates in EU sanctions against Russia. In the period after the annexation of Crimea to Russia and the beginning of the armed confrontation in the Donbas (2014) and before, Austria could be considered one of the European softliners against the Russian Federation, who would like to soften and gradually lift sanctions. However, after February 2022, Vienna changed its position.
In 2022, 54% of Austrians supported anti-Russian sanctions. However, in 2024 it is already 48%. Such indicators can be explained by the fact that the Austrians are aware of the need to demonstrate support for Ukraine, but understand the insufficient effectiveness of the sanctions mechanism.
Meanwhile, according to a Gallup-Institut study, support for differentiated neutrality, involving participation in sanctions policy, was 70% in 2024. The only time the Austrians threatened to block another EU sanctions package was in 2023. Then Ukraine added the Austrian Raiffeisenbank to its list of "international sponsors of the war." When this misunderstanding was resolved, Austria neither supported nor blocked the 12th sanctions package.
Austria's withdrawal from direct energy purchases from Russia at the end of 2024 should also be mentioned. The Austrian energy concern OMV terminated the contract with Gazprom valid until 2040, ahead of the European Commission's demands to abandon direct purchases of oil and gas from the Russian Federation for two years.
As a result, joining NATO is not on the agenda in Vienna. Unlike Finland, Austria does not border Russia. Together with Switzerland and Liechtenstein, it forms an island of neutral states, surrounded on all sides by the area of responsibility of the North Atlantic Alliance. And discussing the development of cooperation between Vienna and NATO, as well as discussing the directions and speed of defense integration into the EU, is a prerequisite for developing foreign policy decisions in Austria.
Fyodor Basov
PhD, Senior Researcher at the Sector of Political Problems of European Integration of the Department of European Political Studies of the E.M. Primakov IMEMO of the Russian Academy of Sciences
