The EU states, which take a neutral position, oppose providing Ukraine with categorical security guarantees, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on Thursday, Reuters reports.

“For us, as neutral states, it is clear that we cannot provide such security guarantees. Austria, Ireland, Malta and Cyprus have made it clear that they have objections,” Nehammer said ahead of a meeting with other European leaders in Brussels.

“The role of neutral states should be clearly considered. We will definitely discuss this and find a wording acceptable to us,” explained Nehammer.

Countries including the United States, Britain, France and Germany are discussing possible security guarantees for Ukraine ahead of next month’s NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that any role the European Union could play is now being discussed.

European Union leaders met on Thursday to discuss Saturday’s uprising in Russia and discuss what role the EU can play in the West’s long-term commitment to strengthening Ukraine’s security.

Nehammer, the first European leader to visit Putin since the invasion began

In April 2022, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehhammer decided to become the first post-invasion European leader to fly to Moscow via Kyiv to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in person, trying to present it as a peaceful mission and a solemn “duty”.

However, European critics of Austria considered everything just a facade. Although Nehhammer described a “tough and honest conversation” with the Kremlin leader with few details, skeptics noted that Russian gas continued to flow to Austria, unlike Germany, where supplies were halted. in early June, suggesting that Austria is Putin’s giant Alpine stronghold.

Austria has taken an ambivalent stance toward Russia since Vladimir Putin launched a brutal attack on Ukraine last year: Vienna does not want to be seen as openly supporting Moscow, but is also wary of permanently damaging a relationship that has been very beneficial to Austria. country for decades.

To understand the roots of Austria’s stance on Russia, it’s useful to look back to 1955, says Politico. Decades after the end of World War II, the country remained occupied by the four Allied Powers and divided into zones.

In order to convince the Soviet Union to restore Austria’s full sovereignty, the country had to agree to write neutrality into its Constitution, which the population of the time considered a necessary evil.

As a neutral, non-aligned country, it could do business on both sides of the Iron Curtain. On June 1, 1968, Austria became the first country in Western Europe to sign a long-term contract with the Soviet Union for the supply of natural gas, which flowed through Czechoslovakia to a distribution center located on the border with Austria.

But just a few months later, Soviet tanks again entered central Europe, this time directly into Czechoslovakia, to crush the Prague Spring, and Austrians feared that the Soviet Union might invade their country as well, Politico noted.

It was a defining moment for Austria in the Cold War. In the end, the Soviet authorities did not invade their country, and the gas continued to flow. The lessons for most Austrians were clear: neutrality is good for both business and national security.

Russia, Austria’s second largest investor

And while Austria was by no means the only country to enthusiastically embrace Russia in the run-up to Putin’s full-scale offensive last year, no EU member had more trouble rejecting it, given that Hungary doesn’t even seem to be trying to do so, notes Politico.

Although Austria has supported Ukraine with significant humanitarian aid, taken in dozens of refugees, approved European Union sanctions against Russia and publicly criticized Putin for violating international norms, behind the scenes trade ties between the two countries remain largely intact, especially in the energy sector. . and financial spheres. It was hard to balance.

Given how deeply rooted Russian interests are in the country’s politics and economy, it may be impossible to sever Austrian-Russian relations, Politico believes.

Russia remains Austria’s second-largest investor after Germany (a position it has held since 2014), with foreign direct investment of €25 billion at the end of last year, or 13% of the total.

The European Commission has warned Austria that it is not doing enough to cut off Russian gas, warning that it faces “serious challenges” in securing its energy supply.

While the rest of Europe has more than halved its dependence on Russian gas to 19 percent by 2022, Austria bought 60 percent of its gas from Russia, up from 80 percent before last year’s invasion. Last year, Austria paid 7 billion euros for Russian gas.

Raiffeisenbank has similar problems with breaking dependence on Russia. Last year, the bank earned more than 2 billion euros in Russia, which is more than half of its global profits.

But due to international sanctions against Russia, the bank, whose market value is about 5 billion euros, cannot return these profits. The bank says it is trying to get out of Russia, but has not yet found a way out.

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