EU State in Europe’s Heart Sees Neutrality Key to Diplomacy Role

Beate Meinl-Reisinger, Austria's foreign minister, during an interview in Vienna. Photo by Michaela Nagyidaiova /Photographer: Michaela Nagyidaio

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(Bloomberg) — Austria hopes to become a stronger force in global diplomacy and a hub for conflict resolution. Key to those efforts, according to Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger, is sticking to decades-old military neutrality despite a raging war in the nation’s proximity.

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The nation’s top diplomat is campaigning for a seat on the United Nations Security Council, offering to host eventual peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, and pushing for a return to the negotiating table on Iran’s nuclear program.

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Her energetic drive since taking office in March as part of a three-way coalition government seeks to help Austria find its place in the new world order. Once a gateway between Europe’s east and west, Vienna’s economic and political relevance has faded due to its longest recession since World War II, and as former Communist neighbors forge their own paths in international politics. 

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Being outside the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, like neighboring Switzerland, may play out to Austria’s benefit. 

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“There is an advantage to not being a member of NATO,” Meinl-Reisinger, 47, said in an interview. “This is a certain understanding that you always have to stick to dialogue.”

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Her pitch is based on the long history of Viennese diplomacy. The Habsburg Empire grew into a European power through strategic marriages, as opposed to waging wars. In a recent speech, Meinl-Reisinger referred to the weight of her office set by the legacy of prominent diplomats such as Klemens von Metternich, the architect of order in post-Napoleonic Europe.

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Austria hosts major international organizations, including the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the International Atomic Energy Agency. 

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Its military non-alignment is a result of the 1955 state contract that granted independence from a decade of allied occupation following World War II. That remains among the most popular policies in Austria and hasn’t been seriously questioned, even after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which spurred Finland and Sweden to join NATO. 

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Yet Austria’s approach raises questions.

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Areas of western Ukraine that have faced Russian missile and drone strikes are closer to Vienna than Bregenz, the capital of Austria’s Vorarlberg province near the Swiss border. The country de facto relies on NATO’s security guarantees to neighboring Slovakia and Hungary to buffer itself from Russian aggression. And it spends about 1% of gross domestic product on defense annually, a fifth of Poland’s relative outlay. 

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“We are not a NATO member, and I’m not in favor of joining NATO,” Meinl-Reisinger said. “What we should talk about is adapting our security strategy to new realities, and not to misuse the term neutrality as a cover up, or for clearly pro-Russian interests.”