Austria must take a more proactive stance in shaping EU foreign and defence policy matters and not hide behind its historically neutral stance towards conflict, European Parliament Vice-President Othmar Karas told EURACTIV on Tuesday after signing an open letter to the government.
Karas, a member of the governing conservative ÖVP party, was among the 90 signatories of an open letter calling the Austrian government to reorientate its security policy and adjust it to the new reality of the war in Ukraine. The letter called the current Austrian stance on security and its constitutional provisions “anachronistic”.
While Germany announced a U-turn in its foreign and security policy with the Zeitenwende and other formally neutral or non-aligned countries, like Sweden and Finland, similarly reversed their long hold positions, Austria continues to stick to its neutrality.
“We do not need a new neutrality debate in Austria. But we must not hide behind neutrality either,” Karas told EURACTIV.
For Karas, Austria should be more proactive in shaping EU foreign and security policy.
“A European Defence Union capable of action, in which Austria actively participates and thus also benefits, is in no way contradictory to our Federal Constitution,” he said, stressing that Austria should “speed up decisions on foreign, security and defence policy” at the EU and domestic levels.
“Otherwise, we will no longer play a role in the world and will be ground down between the major powers,” Karas argued.
Karas also expects the Strategic Compass, the EU’s new military strategy, which was also adopted by Austria, to be consistently implemented. Under the Strategic Compass, EU countries have committed to increase their defence spending significantly and agreed to have a 5,000-strong EU Rapid Deployment Capacity to be deployed “in non-permissive environments”.
“Every euro that is now newly invested in defence must be used in the sense of a common EU defence union,” Karas said, wishing for national armies to work together efficiently, and be well-equipped through joint procurement.
(Chiara Swaton | EURACTIV.de)
Source: euractiv.com
