“As for the supply of weapons by Austria … You probably know that neutrality is fixed in the Austrian constitution. The constitution can only be changed by two-thirds [голосов] in parliament. And now I do not see that Austria was ready to change its constitution and deviate from it. It is connected with history, with World War II, with 1955,” he said.
Van der Bellen noted that this is not the only obstacle.
“There is another problem: we in Austria – it must be admitted – have already launched our military weapons for decades, and because of this we do not see the possibilities that we can supply. We have saved on the budget of our armed forces, but we are trying to do everything at the level the European Union tonot to prevent others from supplying weapons to Ukraine,” he said.
The President noted that Austria allows the transit of weapons for Ukraine through its territory.
“Due to the fact that we can do so little in this area, we are trying to concentrate on the humanitarian sphere of assistance,” he added.
Austria does not send lethal weapons to Ukraine, as the country’s Ministry of Defense explained, because Austria is a neutral state and is not a member of NATO. At the same time, Austria announced on helping Ukraine with fuel, providing helmets, body armor and humanitarian supplies.
Among EU countries only Austria and Hungary refuse to provide Ukraine with their weapons to counter Russian aggression, noted on August 22, 2022, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba.
On January 30, Austrian and Hungarian Defense Ministers Claudia Tanner and Christoph Szalay-Bobrovnicki confirmed at a joint press conference that their countries would continue to adhere to policy of refusing military aid to Ukraine.
