NATO strengthens cooperation with neutral Austria
Kyiv • UNN
The Alliance and Austria have signed agreements to deepen cooperation, including intelligence sharing. Austria, while maintaining its neutral status, is not a member of NATO.
Austria and NATO have signed agreements that provide for enhanced cooperation, including the exchange of intelligence. It is worth recalling that this country has a neutral status and is not a member of the Alliance, writes UNN with reference to the press release of the military-political alliance.
Details
NATO and the Austrian government recently signed agreements to promote greater cooperation and the exchange of classified and confidential intelligence.
She added that key partnerships with other countries help strengthen the Alliance and enhance Euro-Atlantic security.
Austria's neutral status
Austria could have become a member of NATO on several occasions. The country is deterred from joining the Alliance by the position of the country's leading political parties, which oppose abandoning its neutral status. Cooperation between NATO and Austria is carried out within the framework of the "Partnership for Peace" program, which Austria joined in 1995.
The North Atlantic Alliance and Austria cooperate in peacekeeping operations and develop practical cooperation in a number of areas.
In particular, in 1996, Austrian troops joined NATO countries in ensuring the peace achieved as a result of the Dayton Agreement on Bosnia and Herzegovina. A battalion was allocated for NATO-led peacekeeping forces until 2001. At that time, a total of 600 Austrian servicemen were involved.
Austrian troops also joined the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan in 2002, providing their expertise and logistical support to allied troops.
Throughout 2005, Austria deployed troops to serve as part of the German-led Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kunduz province to ensure the security of parliamentary elections in Afghanistan.
Cooperation also takes place in other areas, in addition to military and security, including assistance to civilians in emergencies, scientific cooperation, and environmental protection.
Addition
Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, and Estonia announced their withdrawal from the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines, also known as the Ottawa Convention.
US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz stated that bilateral diplomacy between the United States and Ukraine continues, although Ukraine's permanent membership in NATO is "incredibly unlikely."