Apparently a 20-gun train for the Ukraine passed through Austria over the weekend – albeit without a permit. The Ministry of the Interior confirmed that “the Italian Embassy in Vienna has been informed that on 15/04/23 a train will carry out a transport of M109 self-propelled howitzers from Italy to Poland”. For the FPÖ, this is a “palpable scandal”.
The problem: a permit is required to take war material to a third country. A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior explained that under certain conditions, transit between EU countries does not require a license and does not need to be registered or approved.
The export concerns “war material for which, according to the Austrian law on war material according to §5 paragraph 2a, no license / permit is required and for this transport an export and import license is issued from both EU countries”.
War Materials Act approval required
According to the “Kleine Zeitung”, the Ministry of the Interior pointed out to the embassy that “if the war material is transported to a third country, a permit under the War Material Act is required”. Approval must be given prior to transport. If an application is submitted, the law stipulates that the Ministries of the Interior, Foreign Affairs and Defense will examine it. A subsequent request is pointless.
FPÖ speaks of “tangible scandal”
In this case there is a gray area. The train went from Italy via Austria to Poland and only passed through EU countries. However, it is difficult that Italy announced earlier that the howitzers were intended for Ukraine. The spokesman for the PVV, Volker Reifenberger, spoke of a “tangible scandal” and “illegal arms deliveries”. The FPÖ MP blamed the federal government. “The black-green government simply cannot guarantee our neutrality,” says Reifenberger.
Cannons are part of Italian aid package
The convoys had already caused a stir in Italy. The train, filmed on Friday by some people with mobile phones, was traveling at low speed through Udine train station towards Austria. As Italy’s Minister of Relations with Parliament, Luca Ciriani, told public broadcaster Rai, these “self-propelled artillery vehicles” were destined for Ukraine and part of a military aid package approved by the previous government and approved by Prime Minister Mario Draghi and delivered this week.
Draghi’s successor, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, supports arms deliveries to Ukraine. On the other hand, their two coalition partners – Matteo Salvini of the right-wing Lega and Silvio Berlusconi of the conservative Forza Italia – have repeatedly made pro-Russian statements.
Source: Krone
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