Schallenberg energetic

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(Bild: AP)

Austria has no desire to join NATO. Increased cooperation within the framework of the Partnership for Peace (PfP) "in no way means that we have any desire to join", said Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) on the ORF "Pressestunde" program on Sunday.

Schallenberg once again took up the cudgels for Austrian neutrality. Austria remains neutral, "and with good reason". When asked about Finland and Sweden's recent accession to NATO, Schallenberg referred to the different histories and the strong support for neutrality among the Austrian population.

Schallenberg does not want to discuss
Austria should rather conduct the security debate and the discussion about Austria's contribution within the framework of the European Union. "To act as if there is only NATO and everyone else is an illusionist and does not see the realities is, in my opinion, completely misguided," said the Foreign Minister, rejecting any calls for a discussion on joining NATO.

Background: Austria's new security doctrine, which is still being drafted, should also include stronger cooperation with NATO. Austria's neutrality has "a value", emphasized Schallenberg and referred to Austria's role as a meeting place for international diplomacy.

More than superfluous and unnecessary.

Schallenberg zu Macron-Forderung

Bild: APA/AFP/ED JONES

Schallenberg also defended Austria's role in supporting Ukraine. When asked about the statement by French President Emmanuel Macron, who had expressed the possibility of deploying NATO ground troops in Ukraine, the Foreign Minister said that the discussion was "more than superfluous and unnecessary".

No "war material" for Ukraine
Referring to neutrality, he said that Austria would also never supply "war material, weapons, ammunition or anything similar" to Ukraine. With regard to the Russia sanctions, the Foreign Minister said that the "facts must be seen" with regard to the current dependence on gas from Russia, but at the same time he also emphasized the intention to get out of this dependence.

There was also a strong side-swipe at the FPÖ during the press conference. "I find it very regrettable that we have a party in this country, and actually frightening, that time and again (...) quite willfully allows itself to be harnessed to Russia's cart." He sometimes has the feeling that the correct abbreviation for the party is "Friends of Putin in Austria" - "because they partly adopt the fake news and everything that is spread on Russian channels one-to-one".

SPÖ MEP Andreas Schieder described Schallenberg as "untrustworthy" with a view to the upcoming European elections. "The reality shows that the conservatives are making common cause with the far-right parties at EU level. The EPP has moved further and further to the right in the last two years", emphasized the red top candidate. His NEOS rival Helmut Brandstätter accused the Foreign Minister of "whitewashing Russia and the federal government's actions against Russia" and criticized the fact that, two years after the outbreak of war, Austria still had no new security strategy, was "still just as dependent on Russian gas as before the war" and was "still a veritable paradise for Russian spies".