After the ÖVP, the Greens are now also clearly in favor of maintaining neutrality. Top Greens representatives are currently advocating that Austria should step up its involvement in other areas in order to maintain NATO’s reputation as a freerider in security policy.
Austria should “go the extra mile and do more than others,” Michel Reimon, the ruling party’s European policy spokesperson, told the Ö1 morning journal. Foreign policy spokeswoman Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic made a similar statement. Austria must ask itself “what can be our role”. In a war on European soil, “not only tanks will be needed,” she said, for example by investing in cybersecurity or disaster relief.
Roll can fall on Austria’s head
“We are freeriders in European security policy,” criticized Remon. This decades-long role could one day “fall on Austria’s head,” he warned. “There will be a situation where Austria has foreign policy interests and needs the support of neighboring countries,” the National Council member stated.
Not comparable to Finland
Moreover, he warned that Austria’s situation was not comparable to that of future NATO member Finland. The country has “an extremely long border with Russia and a war history with Russia. Austria is relatively safe there,” explains Reimon. Should Russia take Austria, it would have to violate the sovereign territory of the NATO countries.
Source: Krone
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