Faced with an energy crisis, a war on Europe’s doorstep, low polling figures, and still reeling from the wake of COVID-19, the Austrian government hopes to regain its bearings by going on retreat to the picturesque town of Mauerbach.
Few countries were as reliant on Russian gas as Austria, which sent prices spiralling as it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The country of nine million people, which features historically close ties to Russia, is not a member of the NATO military alliance.
Chancellor Karl Nehammer was the first EU leader to visit Moscow. Meanwhile, the conservative-green government coalition is polling at 19% and 10% ahead of the 2024 election.
In that context, the Austrian political top brass is meeting on Tuesday.
“We want to emerge stronger from these crises, which also means, above all, that we regain independence in important areas and thus protect our security and freedom,” explained Nehammer ahead of the meeting.
Vienna’s government will be briefed by experts in three fields: economy, energy and geopolitics. The meeting would be “the right place to assess the situation with experts from the fields of economics, energy and geopolitics, draw conclusions and launch the next concrete measures,” Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler stressed.
More than a year of the energy crisis has left deep rifts in Austrian energy markets – with EU electricity market reform on the horizon, Vienna is working on establishing a position.
“Now it is a matter of thinking about how the energy markets and productions of the next few years can develop or be managed,” explained Michael Strugl, head of the Austrian utility association, ahead of the meeting.
(Nikolaus J. Kurmayer | EURACTIV.de)
Source: euractiv.com
