The discussion about Austria's neutrality

Austria is discussing whether to maintain its current policy of neutrality following a proposal made within the conservative ÖVP party to abolish the neutrality principle. Since the discussion broke out, "all the party leaders have been busy pledging their loyalty to the corresponding paragraphs in the constitution," writes Nina Weißensteiner, adding: "What the parties are keeping quiet about is that the European Union's common security concept, to which they have all professed their commitment, naturally entails a complete break with neutrality, which was already undermined when the country joined the EU... But the electorate refuses to accept this. This is why against their better judgement both the SPÖ and the ÖVP are unwilling to go down in history as the party that abolished neutrality. And this is why the Greens, despite their absolute commitment to Europe in other areas, are casting themselves in the role of the pacifist defenders of neutrality. And this is also why even the heirs of the FPÖ, once a staunch supporter of NATO, are now professing their commitment to continued neutrality."

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