This neighboring country is also talking about neutrality This neighboring country is also talking about neutrality

According to constitutional minister Karoline Edtstadler, the government in Austria refuses to give up the neutrality of the country. “Neutrality creates identity for Austria, that’s how it was and that’s how it will remain,” said the ÖVP politician on Tuesday evening in the ORF news program “ZiB2”. The status is also important for the country’s reputation as the seat of international institutions.

Politicians, experts and companies are calling for debate

Edtstadler was responding to an open letter from an alliance of 90 politicians, experts and entrepreneurs who had called for “a serious, nationwide, open discussion about the future of Austria’s foreign, security and defense policy”.

Since Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the preconditions for neutrality have changed, according to the letter published on Tuesday. “Many Austrians still seem to believe or hope that nothing has actually changed for our country, that we can stay out of all military conflicts and protect ourselves independently in the near future,” the signatories said.

Government: Comparison with Sweden and Finland is not valid

Edtstadler rejected a comparison with Sweden and Finland, which want to trade their neutrality for NATO membership. Finland shares a thousands of kilometers long border with Russia and is therefore in a completely different starting position.

The neutrality enshrined in the constitution since 1955, which prohibits membership of a military alliance or military bases of foreign states on Austrian territory, is welcomed by a clear majority of the Austrian population, according to surveys. (con/sda/dpa)