The Ukrainians celebrate their national holiday on Wednesday – with a sad background: the Russian war of aggression in the country lasts exactly six months to the day. However, the next six months are likely to be even more difficult for the country and the people – for both political and economic reasons. Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) represented this point of view during a panel discussion with Eastern European colleagues at the Forum Alpbach.
There was disagreement about restricting tourist visas for Russians. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky called for such a measure. Only a very small number of Russians actually travel and these are often wealthy people from Moscow and St. Petersburg who have themselves felt nothing of Russian aggression in Ukraine. This requires strong policy.
The position of Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon was different. She pointed out that appropriate visa restrictions could also be used to prevent people from leaving the country who opposed Vladimir Putin’s policies and wanted to leave Russia.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama is somewhat skeptical about the extent to which the EU can continue to speak with one voice and enforce sanctions against Russia. Resilience is decisive and the willingness to make sacrifices is lower in rich countries.
Frozen conflict instead of end of war
Fajon pointed out that people in Europe were increasingly wondering who would hurt the sanctions more. The Slovenian foreign minister is counting on negotiations, although pragmatism will be necessary. She does not believe in a quick end to the war, rather in a frozen conflict.
Schallenberg: ‘We were kicked out of paradise’
Austrian Foreign Minister Schallenberg pointed out that inflation was already very high before the war and that one should not follow Putin’s story here. In any case, he was impressed that there had been a revival in Europe as a result of the Russian attack: “We were kicked out of paradise.” Lipavsky argued for a common position. This would outweigh if each state took individual measures.
Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok pointed to past failures. If the Russian invasion of Georgia or Crimea had reacted the same way it does now, you wouldn’t necessarily be where you are today. In terms of security policy, Korcok promoted a common security architecture for the West. Europe can pursue self-sufficiency in all areas, but when it comes to security policy, we are much stronger together with the US.
When asked about this, Schallenberg defended his neutrality. This is an asset to him. Moreover, it is a matter of pure military neutrality. One should not allow oneself to be divided in Europe.
Source: Krone
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