Austria said it won’t join NATO
Against the backdrop of media reports about Vienna’s plans to expand co-operation with NATO, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said the country does not intend to become a member of the alliance, TASS reports
“We have no plans to join,” the official said, speaking before the foreign policy committee of Austria’s National Council (lower house of parliament).
According to him, Austria is striving to establish an exchange of information with other neutral states – Ireland, Malta and Switzerland – so that neutral countries ‘are not forgotten’.
Earlier, information appeared in the media that Austria, Ireland, Malta and Switzerland sent a letter to the North Atlantic Alliance in late 2023 with a proposal for expanded co-operation. According to the newspaper Die Presse, after Finland and Sweden join NATO, these states intend to position their group as WEP4 (four Western European partners). In the letter, WEP4 states indicate intentions to expand their participation in NATO military manoeuvres, as well as plans to achieve ‘privileged access to NATO documents and information’, increase intelligence sharing, and establish co-operation with NATO in the areas of cybersecurity, protection of critical infrastructure and struggle ‘against new disruptive technologies’.
