Why is Austria neutral?

With Sweden and Finland, two European countries have decided to give up their neutrality for decades. But Chancellor Karl Nehammer rules out this step for Austria as well. He confirmed this in April, among other things, shortly before traveling to Moscow in an attempt to persuade President Vladimir Putin to end the Russian attack on Ukraine: “Austria has been neutral, Austria is neutral and Austria will remains neutral, “he said.

But then 50 Austrian celebrities raised the issue again. In an open letter, they call on federal president Alexander van der Bellen to conduct an independent audit to determine if the country’s neutrality is still appropriate. “There have always been attempts by different parties to give up neutrality, but they have always failed,” says Viennese political scientist Heinz Gärtner. polls, more than 75 percent of Austrians regularly speak in favor of neutrality.

Putin and Chancellor Karl Nehammer

After these votes you would think that the debate is off the table. Yet the question remains as to why Austria’s neutrality seems so unquestionable, especially since the country pursues a more active foreign policy than Sweden, Finland or Switzerland.

Why is Austria neutral?

For centuries Austria was a great power that placed the emperor in the Holy Roman Empire and was anything but neutral. In the 19th century the Austrian Empire was created, from which in 1867 the empire of two kingdoms – Austria and Hungary, which included large parts of the Balkans to present-day Hungary.

Following the defeat in World War I, Austria was reduced to its present-day borders by the Treaty of Saint-Germain. However, the country became neutral only ten years after another defeat in World War II – on October 26, 1955 with the Vienna State Treaty.

At that time Austria, like Germany, was occupied by four victorious powers (Russia, USA, UK and France). “Neutrality was the only way to allow Austria to withdraw Allied troops from the country,” Gärtner explains. “At the time, Austria was also threatened with a permanent division, similar to that of Germany. This danger was averted by the consensus of the victorious powers on neutrality – especially the Soviet Union and the United States.”

How neutral is Austria?

Although the Soviet Union agreed to neutrality at the time, there is no doubt that Austria is leaning towards the culture and democratic values ​​of the Western market economy. This is also reflected in the fact that Austria became a founding member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1961.

Former Chancellor Bruno Kreisky

But at the same time, from the 1960s, the capital of Austria, Vienna, became the headquarters of several important international organizations that could not be attributed to any Cold War party, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) as well as a number of UN organizations. Bruno Kreisky, Federal Chancellor of Austria from 1970 to 1983, saw this as a better alternative to security policy towards the country’s military rise.

For political scientist Gärtner, this is not a contradiction: “It is not a matter of general neutrality but only military neutrality.” The state treaty excludes three things in particular: military intervention in the conflicts of other countries, the permanent deployment of foreign troops in Austria, and membership in a military alliance.

But the Soviet Union, like the United Kingdom, has long opposed Austria’s accession to the European Community, the European Union (EU) ‘s predecessor. This was justified by a transition to a state treaty that precluded a “union with Germany” – even an economic one.

How does Austria’s neutrality compare to that of other European countries?

In the case of Sweden and Finland, decades of neutrality were nothing but a voluntary foreign policy doctrine. Austria and Switzerland, on the other hand, are obliged to be neutral, according to international treaties. As in the case of Austria, the neutrality of Switzerland has been a compromise between the great powers around: at the Congress of Vienna in 1814/15, France, Austria and Prussia agreed to give up their respective interests in this area in favor of a neutral confederation.    

Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen

But there are significant differences between these two alpine republics. Unlike Austria, Switzerland was never a major power. Until the founding of the federal state in 1848, the Confederation was a more or less free association of small sovereign states.

“Switzerland maintains a more passive neutrality than Austria,” Gärtner said. Austria is also much more active as a mediator in international conflicts and participates to a much greater extent in UN blue helmet missions.

Can Austria’s neutrality stand?

When we look at the attitudes of the population and politicians, the question of whether Austria is relinquishing its neutrality does not actually arise, says political scientist Gärtner: “It would be much more interesting to debate how Austria would interpret its neutrality in the future. “/DW