He saw no sole blame for the Russian attack on Russia. Outraged reactions were the result, there were several calls for order.
debate regarding neutrality
Austria’s neutrality was also discussed. While the NEOS, which had obtained the plenary, promoted a departure from the previous Austrian position, Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP), SPÖ chairman Pamela Rendi-Wagner and FPÖ chairman Herbert Kickl insisted on maintaining neutrality.
Meinl-Reisinger: “Putin must be stopped to secure freedom and peace”
The meeting was attended by the OSCE Ukrainian delegation, the Ukrainian ambassador to Austria Vasyl Kymynets and the Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tichanovskaya. NEOS club chairwoman Beate Meinl-Reisinger, who had donned a yellow and blue ribbon, once once more condemned the Russian aggression in the justification for her “urgent request”. She spoke of a “monstrous war” and emphasized: “Putin must be stopped in Ukraine in order to ensure lasting freedom and peace.”
Image: ROBERT JAEGER (APA)
NEOS MP Helmut Brandstätter called for more support for Ukraine. It’s regarding people wanting to live in freedom and not under the “dictatorship of a war criminal”.
Image: ROBERT JAEGER (APA)
Despite high inflation in Europe and Austria, the West acted correctly by uniting itself once morest the aggressor, said the ÖVP deputy Reinhold Lopatka. Rendi-Wagner also praised the reaction of the EU and Austria and called for humanitarian aid and for Ukrainian refugees to be granted protection in this country. Conditions for peace must be in the hands of Ukraine.
Kickl: “Both sides to blame”
For Kickl, however, the government’s policy towards Russia and Ukraine, like their corona policy, represents the “completely wrong strategy”, as he explained in the National Council. The damage for all Austrians would be maximized, he came to speak of inflation. Both sides are to blame, the war of aggression was preceded by a long history of provocations by the USA and NATO, said Kickl, who spoke out in favor of peace.
Kickl “Putin’s extended arm”
The FPÖ received a lot of criticism for this attitude: Kickl represents the interests of the Kremlin in the Austrian Parliament, commented the Green Club Chairwoman Sigrid Maurer. The reason for the inflation is not the sanctions, but the war. According to Maurer, responsibility for the fact that people in Austria suffer from this lies with Putin.
Image: ROBERT JAEGER (APA)
“What is the Kickl-FPÖ doing? They applaud Putin!” said Lopatka, for whom the chairman of the Freedom Party is “Putin’s extended arm”. After a break in the session, calls for order finally received, among others, Brandstätter, who compared Kickl’s argument with Hitler, and Lopatka, who compared him to the Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov. Kickl received one for an insulting statement.
Kogler received a reprimand from Bures
There was a dispute in the heated meeting between Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens) and the second President of the National Council, Doris Bures (SPÖ). The head of the Greens had located “perverse Putin propaganda” in the FPÖ, which the current president did not consider appropriate. When Kogler did not distance himself from the statement, but instead repeated it de facto, Bures gave him a kind of lecture from a parliamentary point of view, which did not really challenge the vice chancellor and long-standing MP: “I will not be forbidden to speak.”
“Austria is only protected in a network”
From an Austrian point of view, Meinl-Reisinger emphasized that one is only protected in a network. Finland and Sweden have already recognized that neutrality alone does not help. The NEOS club chairwoman demanded a commitment to a European security pillar and the development of a new security strategy, which puts Russia on the same level as the USA: “That’s negligent.”
Neutral Austria “bridge builder”
In his reply, Nehammer made a clear commitment to neutrality, which in many areas cannot be overestimated. The Chancellor referred to the many international organizations from the UN down, which had settled in Austria precisely for this reason and thus offered the opportunity to keep channels of communication open.
Nehammer sees Austria as a bridge builder: “Austria’s neutrality is a living peace policy.” Nobody in the EU has any problems with her either. As a neutral state, Austria must work towards de-escalation, said Lopatka. The SPÖ and FPÖ also did not want to get involved in a neutrality debate. “Hands off our neutrality,” said Kickl. This is the future model, not NATO. Rendi-Wagner stated that her parliamentary group would never agree to simply throwing neutrality overboard as a security policy instrument that has proven itself for Austria for decades.
The second issue of conflict was the energy supply. While Rendi-Wagner and Meinl-Reisinger described the dependency on Russian gas at over 70 percent, according to Nehammer the annual average is only 50 percent, down from 80 percent before the war. It is clear to the chancellor that an exit cannot happen overnight. He referred to very long-term supply contracts that had been concluded and the costs that had already arisen from the creation of the strategic gas reserve. Every wind turbine is a “symbol of our freedom,” said Maurer regarding the expansion of renewable energies.
Meinl-Reisinger, on the other hand, saw Austria as a gas colony of Russia’s imperialist policy. While Austria has helped Ukraine with 600 million euros, seven billion euros have gone to Moscow in recent years.
