Austria was occupied by the four victorious Allied powers following World War II under the Allied Control Council, similar to Germany. During negotiations to end the occupation, which were ongoing at the same time as Germany's, the Soviet Union insisted on the reunified country adopting the model of Swiss neutrality. The US feared that this would encourage West Germany to accept similar Soviet proposals for neutrality as a condition for German reunification.[1] Shortly after West Germany's accession to NATO, the parties agreed to the Austrian State Treaty in May 1955, which was largely based on the Moscow Memorandum signed the previous month between Austria and the Soviet Union. While the treaty itself did not commit Austria to neutrality, this was subsequently enshrined into Austria's constitution that October with the Declaration of Neutrality. The Declaration prohibits Austria from joining a military alliance, from hosting foreign military bases within its borders, and from participating in a war.[2]
Conservative politician Andreas Khol, the 2016 presidential nominee from the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), has argued in favor of NATO membership for Austria in light of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine,[3] and Chancellor from 2000 to 2007, Wolfgang Schüssel, also of the ÖVP, supported NATO membership as part of European integration. Current Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, however, has rejected the idea of reopening Austria's neutrality and membership is not widely popular with the Austrian public.[4] According to a survey in April 2023 by the Austrian Society for European Politics, only 21% of Austrians surveyed supported joining NATO, while 60% were opposed.
Following the decision of Finland and Sweden to abandon decades of non-alignment and apply to join NATO in 2022, there has been renewed debates on Austria joining the bloc, similar to how Austria joined the EU alongside Finland and Sweden.[5][6][7] On May 8, 2022, a coalition of politicians, diplomats, artists and business-people wrote an open letter to the Austrian government asking them to review their commitment to neutrality, however, the only party to openly support the effort was NEOS with just 15 of the 183 seats in the National Council.[8][9] Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer stated that the country would continue its policy of neutrality.[10]
On 10 July 2024, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said that Austria was not considering joining NATO, but planned to cooperate with the alliance.[11]
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