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Austria's Foreign Minister Schallenberg
Photo: GEORGI LICOVSKI / EPA
Austria does not want to join NATO even after Sweden and Finland have applied for membership.
"We will (...) continue to remain neutral," said Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg on Deutschlandfunk.
He noted that Finland and Sweden had made massive changes to their security policies in a hurry, said the ÖVP politician.
Schallenberg referred to the EU member states Ireland and Malta, which have not yet joined the alliance either.
According to Schallenberg, the rejection of a NATO partnership does not mean that his country is isolated from foreign policy.
That doesn't mean "that we are isolated, that we don't show solidarity".
Since joining the EU, Austria has supported all measures of the common foreign and security policy.
»We always knew exactly where we stood«
When asked that in the event of a further military escalation of the conflict, this could mean for Austria to stand alone, Schallenberg referred to his country's historical position.
His country opted for neutrality in 1955, and a "very, very large majority of the population" continues to see this as positive.
However, this was always a military and never a political neutrality.
»We have always known exactly where we stand«.
Austria is clearly on the Ukrainian side.
He described the Russian war of aggression against the Ukraine as a "break in civilisation".
Schallenberg also justified Vienna not helping Ukraine with arms deliveries.
"We help on a large scale, but not with war material," said the ÖVP politician.
This will be compensated for with “all the larger measures in the area of humanitarian support”.
fek