Expensive UN campaign: Prince warns of loss of Austrian neutrality!

Expensive UN campaign: Prince warns of loss of Austrian neutrality!

On June 4, 2025, Neos Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger presented an advertising campaign to promote Austria's striving for a seat in the UN Security Council for 2027/2028. The planned investments in this and next year will amount to a total of 20 million euros, with eight million euros in particular to flow into non-detailed UN projects. However, the financial burden that this campaign brings with it is in a sharp contrast to the current economic situation in the country, where inflation and financial challenges for the population are increasingly producing.

The FPÖ foreign policy spokeswoman Susanne Fürst critically commented on this initiative and described it as superfluous, especially in times when many people in Austria rely on support. According to her words, the money could be better invested in helping people in Austria, instead of seeping in an expensive campaign. Fürst asked the government to cancel the campaign and instead to promote the return to neutrality, which in their opinion does not require a financial investment, but rather a rethink of the government parties.

Austria's neutrality in focus

Austria has been a neutral state for many decades. The neutrality was determined by the four crew powers in 1955 after the occupation and went hand in hand with joining the United Nations and later to the EU. This neutrality is defined in international law as a non -manner of wars. Austria's security and defense doctrine sees this neutrality, which, despite EU integration and globalization, continues to exist as core or residual neutrality that is limited to freedom of alliance and the prohibition of stationing foreign troops. Nevertheless, the existing obligations towards the UN, EU and NATO partnership must be observed in the current legal situation, which ultimately restricts neutrality.

The national holiday on October 26 is reminiscent of the decision of the Neutrality Act in 1955, the importance of which has changed over the years. Membership in the UN was a central component of this neutrality policy and was designed on the assumption of active neutrality, which included military block freedom and integration into international security structures.

political motives behind the campaign

Beate Meinl-Reisinger himself has critically questioned political style issues and structures. Her political career is shaped by the endeavor to bring about changes and to emphasize the need for reforms. It sees education as the key to self -empowerment and emphasizes the importance of a political system that capable of reform. In the NEOS, this constructive attitude towards political culture is described as a fundamental aspect that should contribute to a stronger democratic discourse. Meinl-Reisinger also comments on the threat of basic European freedoms and democracy, which she sees as a pressing problem.

The discussion about the campaign for the UN Security Council could therefore not only be a question of the expenses, but also to initiate a deeper examination of the values ​​and the role of Austria in the international community. While Fürst describes the campaign as inappropriate, Meinl-Reisinger may see it as a necessary step to strengthen Austria's international reputation and relevance.