Austria Promises "Unconditional Support" for Ukraine's EU Accession
Austria will continue to support Ukraine and assist in its path to EU membership, despite Austria's tradition of neutrality. This statement was made by the President of the Austrian Parliament, Wolfgang Sobotka, during his visit to Kyiv on Tuesday.
In his address, Sobotka emphasized that from a political standpoint, Austria is not neutral, as reported by Euractiv.
The Austrian delegation visiting Ukraine included representatives from all parliamentary parties, with the exception of the far-right Austrian Freedom Party, which opposes aid to Ukraine and its EU membership.
"Austria's position has always been very clear when it comes to 'condemning the illegal, unjustified, and unprovoked Russian aggressive war against Ukraine at all political levels, condemning the blatant violation of international law, and providing full support to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,'" stated the President of the Austrian Parliament.
In Kyiv, the Speaker of the National Council of Austria also met with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who invited Austrian businesses to participate in Ukraine's demining efforts, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where discussions focused on the "peace formula" and European integration.
Austria has promised to provide Ukraine with an additional 750 million euros, in addition to approximately 2.5 billion euros in various EU commitments, making it the 16th largest donor in the EU by GDP, trailing countries such as Sweden and Hungary.
Currently, Austria has only supplied non-lethal military equipment due to its neutrality.
However, Austria has recently come under scrutiny due to its heavy reliance on Russian gas imports. As of July, the country imported around 66% of its gas from Russia, compared to 79% before the conflict.
The EU representative in Vienna, Martin Selmayr, recently criticized the Austrian government for making "bloody money" payments to Russia, sparking political protests.
Austria has also recently warned that the danger of nuclear war is greater than ever.
"Nuclear risks are greater than ever. We must break this vicious circle," said Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Schallenberg in his statement.
He added that the regime of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation is under tremendous pressure.
Recall that in the summer, The Times reported that a former intelligence chief referred to Vienna as a hub of Russian espionage and that Russia could be the real winner in next year's elections there.