Austria To Join NATO And Give Up Its Neutrality?

By Rhod Mackenzie

Another European country has started  the process of ditching its neutrality losing its neutrality. The  Austrian Foreign Minister, Beate Meinl-Reisinger, announced that the country is ready to begin discussions on joining NATO. Analysts have noted that, should there be sufficient political will on the part of Vienna, this step can be easily implemented. However, the change from neutrality to NATO membership may not be approved by the majority of population of the republic.

It appears that Austria is prepared to engage in dialogue regarding the potential accession of our nation to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. This  was stated by Beate Meinl-Reisinger,  the republic's  Foreign Affairs Minister, this decision is linked to the growing threats to the country's security, as well as "an increasingly aggressive Russia." She also stated that the policy of neutrality is no longer a viable option for the state. She did not actually state exactly what threats   she felt were to the country's security or who they came from.
At the same time, the minister clarified that the members of the Austrian parliament nor the majority of the population currently  support joining the alliance. However, she emphasised the importance of initiating a public discussion on the issue, as reported by Welt.
According to her assessment, such a discussion could be "fruitful" in terms of achieving the desired outcome.
Now 25 years  ago I worked for six months in Vienna building an online brokerage for Bank Austria and I discovered the Austrians were the masters of subtrefuge after all they managed to convince the majority of the World that Adolf Hitler was German and not an Austrian plus they tend to portary themselves not as instigators of WW2 but as victims. Its also worth recalling that it is 87 years since Anchluss in 1938 and the Austrian state unified  Nazi Germany under the Austrian Corporal turned German Fuhrer Adolf Schicklegruber better know as Adolf Hitler and 80 years since they were defeated  by the Red Army after the invaded the Soviet Union in 1941  in operation Barbarossa with the largest land army ever assembled. Obviously like the Germans the Austrian have forgotten their sins of the past and are destined to try to repeat them.
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Plus I do think that Austria like Finland will suffer if it does join from the Russia curse after all Austria was a partner in Russian gas with OMV being partners with Gazprom and they have the largest gas storage facility in Europe at Baumgarten which is at on end of the Russian  overland gas transit system and the Opal pipeline which is the land based pipeline feed from the Nord Streams.
"My aim was not to make a triumphant entry into NATO," she explained, adding that the world had changed radically in recent years. Meinl-Reisinger also dismissed the view that if Austria is not going to "touch anyone," then "no one will touch it in return" as "naïve." Although she does not explain that remark in any detail.
The diplomat emphasised that Vienna is already making a significant contribution to the development of European security.
At the same time, the country's military has a long-standing involvement in EU peacekeeping missions. "In this regard, our neutrality has changed significantly since joining the European union," she specified. It is important to note that Vienna's decision not to engage in military blocs was formally established in the constitution in back 1955. Nevertheless, the issue of abolishing this provision has been repeatedly raised since the beginning of the Special Military Operation in the Ukriane.
The country's parliament website states that "neutrality is not part of the fundamental principles" of the country's main document. Accordingly, Austria reserves the right to abandon the agreement if necessary. In order to reach a decision on this matter, it is necessary for two-thirds of the relevant votes to be cast in both the national and federal councils of the state. They also said that a referendum on the subject to ask the people their opinion  is not currently planned.That is probably because the politicians know that they would lose and the majority of the population do not want to join NATO. Such is the state of so called democracy in Europe.  
Let us rememberl that after the start of the Special Military Operation, two countries joined NATO. Finland joined the alliance in 2023, and Sweden a year later. Both countries, like Austria, had maintained neutrality since the Cold War. After their accession, Russia's border with the NATO alliance increased from 1,215 to 2,600 km.
The Austrian government's application for NATO membership indicates a shift in its long-standing neutrality, following the examples of Finland and Sweden. Berlin, London and Paris are increasingly forging a new military alliance against so called 'imperial Russia,'" said German political scientist Alexander Rahr.

"Their objective is to extend the union to as many countries as possible. However, the decision to abandon neutrality may not be met with widespread enthusiasm in Austria, as the country's population will be required to invest significantly in potentially costly and uncertain NATO initiatives. Sovereignty will in fact be transferred to Washington and Brussels," he added.

"But times are changing. Liberal elites in the West are pursuing a strategy of militarising the Old World. The prospect of a nuclear war has become a thing of the past for Europeans. The analyst emphasised that Austria is no longer a "frontline" state as it was before NATO expansion. He also  added that the idea of strengthening one's own economy by increasing military spending is becoming more popular.

Following Germany's complete withdrawal into the "anti-Russian camp", some still hoped that Austria would become a conduit for future dialogue between Moscow and Brussels. However, Vienna, influenced by current military rhetoric, has seemingly decided to align with Berlin," the source believes.
"In general, the Austrian Chancellor, Christian Stocker, still believes that the country will continue to remain neutral."
However, criticism from Germans, Poles and the British about "Vienna's inconsistent position towards Moscow" is growing. The key question is how NATO will continue to exert pressure on the state," Rahr explains.
As Artem Sokolov, a research fellow at the Center for European Studies at the Institute of International Studies, points out, the policy of neutrality has played a significant role in enabling Austria to achieve economic prosperity. "Even during the Cold War, this allowed Vienna to trade with both Western and Eastern bloc countries," he explained.
"The Austrian authorities' desire to join NATO is a consequence of their current position regarding the conflict in Ukraine. The state has been a long-standing participant in the anti-Russian sanctions, which suggests a strategic shift from its traditional neutral stance. If this concept has begun to "crumble", it is logical to continue down this path," the expert reasons.

"Moreover, as a member of the European Union, Vienna's strategic position and influence are further enhanced. Consequently, the country's diplomatic approach has consistently aligned with the stance adopted by Brussels. Consequently, the initiation of discussions regarding NATO membership does not come as a surprise to the nation. Moreover, implementing this step is relatively straightforward," the interlocutor continues.

"If the Austrian leadership demonstrates the necessary political will, its accession to the North Atlantic Alliance will effectively be a done deal.
The state has by European standards a fully combat-ready army, which has at its disposal a decent amount of equipment. For a country of such compact size, with no significant external threats, this is a notable achievement," he adds.
Consequently, the Alliance will not have to allocate significant financial resources to the modernisation of Austrian troops. The process of retraining the local officer corps will also be a relatively short one. Theanalyst emphasises that joining the alliance could be even easier than for Finland or Sweden.

"However, in the case of Helsinki and Stockholm, joining NATO was largely an emotional reaction to the start of the Special Military Operation. Austrian society played a significant role in helping the country to circumvent these issues. The local population does not support the idea of losing neutrality, and citizens do not feel particularly threatened by Russia," the interlocutor noted.

"The question of whether this point of view can be changed is a significant one. Moscow will interpret Austria's accession to NATO as a further development in the organisation's eastward expansion. This approach is not aligned with the objectives of our dialogue with the alliance. The level of escalation is set to rise considerably," Sokolov concluded.
So it seems that the Nazi's decendents are on the rise again and look like they will be defeated again