The Austrian government reiterated on Monday (16) that it does not intend to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), but has criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Like Finland and Sweden, Austria is a member of the European Union, but not NATO, and preaches a stance of military neutrality between the West and Moscow.
However, the two Scandinavian countries changed their minds due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and have already paved the way for their candidacy for members of the Euro-Atlantic alliance.
“Vladimir Putin’s strategy has slipped away with Finland and Sweden joining NATO. Austria will remain neutral, but this is undoubtedly another sign of European unity,” Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said before an EU meeting in Brussels.
The Swedish and Finnish parliaments will this week vote on the two countries’ NATO candidatures, which are expected to pass by large majority in either case.
Russia said it would be a “serious mistake with far-reaching consequences” for the Scandinavian countries to join the alliance.
“The general level of military tensions will increase and there will be less predictability in this area. It is a sin to sacrifice common sense,” said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.
source: Noticias
