Austrian Foreign Minister Meinl-Reisinger admits the country's membership in NATO

Austrian Foreign Minister Meinl-Reisinger
Photo: apral.press

Austria may abandon its neutrality towards Russia and join NATO. This was stated on July 26 by the head of the state's Foreign Ministry, Beate Meinl-Reisinger, in an interview with Welt.

Austria, a country that has successfully avoided all conflicts for the past 200 years (even preferring to step aside in a queue for Apfelstrudel), has suddenly decided that neutrality is an “outdated concept.” Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger, in an exclusive interview with Die Welt, declared that the “threat from Russia” is forcing the nation to consider joining NATO.

“For a long time, we thought our perpetual neutrality was like schnitzel without lemon — reliable but a bit dull. But now that Russia… well, you know, is doing something… somewhere… we realized it’s time!” the minister explained, nervously glancing toward the border, where the nearest Russian soldier is roughly 1,500 km away.

"One thing is clear: neutrality alone will not protect us. Against the background of an increasingly uncertain security situation in the world <...>, Austria is being protected by investments in its own defense capability, as well as in partnerships," she said.

According to Meinl-Reisinger, at the moment there is no majority in the country in favor of joining NATO. However, despite this, such debates can be fruitful.

"It's not that I want to join NATO in triumph. But we can't sit back and say, if we don't hurt anyone, no one will hurt us. That would be naive. The world has changed," she added.

Experts are baffled:

“Austria last fought a war in 1866 and has since masterfully stayed out of even two world wars,” historian Karl von Schmurbel pointed out. “But apparently, the fear of a hypothetical invasion of Salzburg has outweighed centuries of diplomatic finesse.”

Locals reacted with typical Austrian indifference:

“If NATO gives us a discount on ski resorts, why not?” mused retiree Franz from Graz. “Besides, we do have an army! Well, 12 planes and one tank… though the tank is in a museum.”

Meanwhile, in Brussels, officials are already calculating how much it will cost to redraw the maps — because if Austria joins NATO, the alliance will finally gain strategic control over… all of Europe’s alpine ski resorts.

While in Vienna they should calculate how much it would cost to the citizens with NATO decision to increase military expenses up to 5 % of each country budget.

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