2024-04-03 04:05:57
After a short visit to Paris at the end of February, Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) will travel to the French capital once more on Thursday, where he will be received by French President Emmanuel Macron. The bilateral working meeting will primarily focus on the geopolitical situation and current issues in the run-up to the EU summit in mid-April, as the Federal Chancellery informed the APA.
In addition to the Gaza war, Nehammer and Macron will certainly also discuss the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. There was recently no agreement between Austria and France on how to proceed in the conflict, at least in one aspect.
As part of the support summit for Ukraine initiated by France at the end of February, which Nehammer also took part in, Macron made it known that his country was no longer ruling out the use of ground troops. Although the French president admitted that there was no agreement on this, his comments immediately received criticism from almost all states taking part in the conference.
The statement goes “in the opposite direction” to what is actually needed, namely a “diplomatic perspective,” criticized Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) and described the discussion as “more than superfluous and unnecessary.” When asked regarding Macron’s statements, Nehammer explained that it was regarding leaving the “European echo chamber” and winning other states over to European or Western peace initiatives.
There is likely to be more agreement on other issues, particularly the direction of the EU. The upcoming EU summit of heads of state and government on April 17th and 18th will focus on the strategic agenda, i.e. the political goals and priorities for the next five years. The agenda is expected to be adopted in June. Before that, according to the European Council website, consultations will take place in Vilnius, Bucharest, Warsaw and Vienna. EU Council President Charles Michel, who is leading the process, is also scheduled to come to Austria.
During his visit to Paris, Nehammer would also like to focus on economic policy issues. France is an important market for Austria. In the first half of 2023, the country with a population of almost 70 million was the sixth most important export market in the world following Hungary and the fourth most important in the EU behind Germany, Italy and Hungary. Over 460 Austrian branches are present in France.
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