Four neutral states want a closer link with NATO, because of a tougher “geopolitical wind”.

Four neutral European countries that are not members of NATO, namely Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and Malta, seek to get closer to the North Atlantic Alliance in the context of the deterioration of the security situation in Europe after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, writes the Austrian daily Die on Tuesday Presse, quoted by the EFE agency, according to Agerpres. However, Austria would like to emphasize that this does not mean that it has decided to join the Alliance.

“Expansion” of relations with NATO due to a harsher “geopolitical wind”.

As early as last December, diplomats from these four countries sent the Alliance “a two-page letter” in which they mentioned that they wanted to “expand” relations with NATO, according to the Austrian publication.

Both NATO and the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the respective four neutral countries, also known as WEP4, “have been looking for a long time to increase the dialogue with the Alliance”, notes Die Presse.

In the letter, the signatories mention that the security situation in Europe has deteriorated substantially and remains volatile, which is why the WEP4 countries, which are already “NATO’s closest partners”, want to strengthen military cooperation, and in the context of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine the collaboration with the Alliance acquires “increasing importance”.

The letter also includes some proposals for intensifying this cooperation, such as conducting additional joint military exercises or a “privileged access to documents and information” of the Alliance.

Motivating this initiative, the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the daily newspaper Die Presse that it is due to a harsher “geopolitical wind”.

Austria says it does not want to join NATO

Although he admitted that in the case of Austria, neutrality does not create security, the same ministry assured that Austria still does not intend to join NATO, unlike Finland or Sweden, which, following the war in Ukraine, chose to join the Alliance as member states . Austria has been collaborating with NATO since 1995 within the “Partnership for Peace”.

Thus, despite the wishes of rapprochement with the Alliance, Austria reiterates the statements of the Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer from the past years who said that Austria has no intention of following the example of Finland and Sweden.

“Austria was neutral, Austria is neutral and Austria will remain neutral”.

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said the same thing.

“We have a completely different geographical situation. We also have a different history and I think that this must simply be taken into account”, he explained to the press in May 2022 during a meeting of foreign ministers from the European Union, in Brussels, DPA reports.

Why is Austria neutral?

Austria was once one of the world’s great powers, and much of its history was far from neutral: Whether it was at the helm of the Holy Roman Empire, or later in the 19th century under the name by the Austrian Empire and finally after 1867 as the Austro-Hungarian Empire – when it ruled much of the Balkans and extended into present-day Ukraine.

Austria’s territorial possessions were reduced to their current borders as a result of its defeat in World War I and the terms of the Treaty of Saint Germain in 1919. However, the country would not become officially neutral until October 26, 1955 – 10 years after which suffered another military defeat in the Second World War – with the signing of the Austrian State Treaty, which restored Austria as a sovereign state.

Like Germany at the time, Austria was occupied by the Allied Powers (UK, USA, USSR and France). “Neutrality was the only way Austria managed to get the occupying forces to leave,” explains Viennese political scientist Heinz Gärtner.

“Back then there was even a threat that Austria would be divided like Germany. This threat was averted when the Allies – particularly the US and the Soviet Union – consented to Austria becoming neutral instead.”

How neutral is Austria?

Even though the Soviet Union supported neutrality, there was never any doubt that Austria displayed a clear affinity for Western culture, its market economy system and its democratic values. This attitude was clearly expressed when Austria became a founding member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1961.

In the 1960s, Austria’s capital Vienna also became the seat of several important international organizations that included the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and a host of United Nations organizations.

Bruno Kreisky, who was Chancellor of Austria from 1970 to 1983, considered this approach a preferable security policy alternative to arming the country.

The political scientist Gärtner says that he sees no contradiction in this way: “It is not about a neutral attitude, but about military neutrality”.

The state treaty prohibits, above all, three things: military involvement in foreign conflicts, the permanent stationing of foreign troops in Austria, and membership of a military alliance.

This made the Soviet Union and Great Britain long opposed to Austria joining the European Communities, the forerunner of the European Union. The reason given for this opposition was a passage in the State Treaty forbidding “union with Germany”—even one limited to economics.

Austria finally submitted its application for membership shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall and was accepted into the EU in 1995.

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

In both Sweden and Finland, neutrality was the result of years of self-imposed foreign policy doctrine. In Austria and Switzerland, however, this neutrality is anchored in binding international treaties.

As in Austria, Swiss neutrality was based on a compromise with the Great Powers: At the Congress of Vienna in 1814–1815, France, Austria, and Prussia all agreed to give up their interests in the territory in favor of a neutral confederation.

However, there are marked differences between the neighboring Alpine states: Switzerland, for example, has never been a great power. Until it became a nation in 1848, Switzerland was a loose amalgam of small sovereign states.

For example, it traditionally avoids signing economic sanctions and is also not a member of the European Union, so it does not participate in the EU’s foreign or security policy.

Austria is much more active when it comes to mediating international conflicts and contributes much larger contingents of soldiers to UN peacekeeping missions than Switzerland.

Switzerland confirmed on April 10 that it will host a peace conference in Ukraine in mid-June, although Russia has so far made it clear that it will not attend.