Nehammer formulated this on Wednesday on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid. Austria is and will remain neutral, but also a reliable partner in questions of security policy. The Federal Chancellor recalled that Austria is already active with around 400 soldiers in EU peacekeeping missions, 300 in such NATO operations and 200 in UN missions. Austria can also show solidarity as a neutral country and act as a mediator, for example.
“Turning point of cooperation”
Nehammer interpreted the fact that Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (Socialists/PSOE) initiated a “Euro-Atlantic Dinner” on Wednesday evening, to which representatives of the NATO countries and non-aligned EU countries were invited, as a “new quality” in relations and possibly even a “turning point” in cooperation. This is probably also due to the war in Ukraine. Even before the summit, Nehammer had emphasized the importance of good cooperation. “NATO-EU cooperation is an important part of defense and security policy.”
Now that NATO has started the admission procedures for Sweden and Finland in view of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, his planned meeting with Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheál Martin during his short stay in Madrid is of particular importance, Nehammer said. After all, only Austria, Cyprus, Malta and the Republic of Ireland are now non-NATO members in the EU.
FPÖ criticizes “wrong and fatal signal”
FPÖ General Secretary Michael Schnedlitz criticized Nehammer’s participation in the summit as a “wrong and fatal signal”. “Once again, Nehammer is wantonly damaging our status as a neutral country. The ‘N’ in NATO definitely does not stand for perpetual neutrality.” In view of skyrocketing prices, rising asylum numbers and energy supply problems, the chancellor has “enough to do in Austria. Instead, he prefers making small talk in Spain.”
The Federal Chancellor also had meetings with Kiev’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday. Nehammer wanted to coordinate with Klitschko what help the Ukrainian capital could currently need from Austria. Above all, the delivery of further fire-fighting and rescue vehicles should be addressed.
“The beginning of a more relaxed relationship”
Nehammer saw the meeting with Erdogan as “the beginning of a more relaxed relationship” with Turkey’s autocratic president. This could also result in Ankara no longer blocking military cooperation with Austria in the Partnership for Peace (PfP). The Istanbul peace process should also be promoted. This is currently the only platform where the warring parties Russia and Ukraine would actually talk to each other.
In concrete terms, the main concern is that “green corridors” for the export of corn, wheat or grain from the Ukraine could be created with Turkey’s help. After all, the amounts involved are in the order of 90 million tons, which are urgently needed in Africa, Nehammer reminded us. For example, Ukraine is ready to clear the port of Odessa from mines in order to enable exports. But only if Russia guarantees not to use this to conquer the port city on the Black Sea. Turkey, accepted by both sides as a partner, could monitor and implement these security guarantees.
“Anything is better than doing nothing”
Like Russia and Ukraine, Turkey borders the Black Sea. The NATO member has good relations with both states and aims to find a balance between Russian and Ukrainian interests in its mediation activities. Turkey has condemned Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine in the UN General Assembly, but has not endorsed Western sanctions.
Nehammer explained that he had held talks with all sides in the past few weeks, as had the heads of government in France and Germany. These are “pieces of the puzzle for building a dialogue bridge,” as the Chancellor put it. However, he was not so naive or self-confident as to believe that a single exchange of views could solve such a crisis. “But anything is better than doing nothing at all,” said Nehammer, whose return flight to Vienna was scheduled for Thursday night.
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Source: Nachrichten
