Austria Signals Willingness to Join Potential Peacekeeping Mission in Ukraine
Austria’s Defence Minister Klaudia Tanner has indicated that her country could participate in a future international peacekeeping mission in Ukraine.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to Welt.
Tanner emphasized that Austria’s military is fully capable of contributing to demanding international operations. While no formal decision has been made, she stressed that Vienna is keeping the door open, depending on the mission’s framework.
“Our participation would depend on the mandate, the specific opportunities for involvement, and whether our expertise is truly needed,” Tanner noted. “But I do not rule out Austrian participation in a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, if the circumstances require it.”
Currently, Austria is engaged in discussions with the “Coalition of the Willing” – an initiative led by France and the United Kingdom that is exploring options for deploying foreign troops to Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron recently reignited debate across Europe by advocating for the deployment of foreign forces to support Ukraine. He noted that such a mission could involve “several thousand” troops, though far from the scale of a mass mobilization. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, however, expressed skepticism, saying European governments remain far from consensus on the issue.
While Austria is not a NATO member, its armed forces have participated in peacekeeping missions in the Balkans and the Middle East under UN and EU mandates – experience that could be valuable in any future deployment to Ukraine.
The prospect of an international peacekeeping force in Ukraine remains hypothetical for now, but discussions are gaining traction amid growing pressure to provide Kyiv with long-term security guarantees and deter further Russian aggression.
As The Gaze reported earlier, Austria took part in the ministerial meeting in Lviv on May 9, 2025, focused on the creation of a special tribunal for the crime of aggression committed by Russia against Ukraine.