What is the Austria model that can stop the war in Ukraine with perpetual neutrality

Ukraine neutral forever, on the Austrian model. It has been a few days since this possibility has been relaunched, considered by some as a viable way to put an end to the war started by Putin with the invasion by Russia. The hypothesis remains in the background at the moment, but it is not certain that it is not going in this direction given that the negotiations between the two countries continue to not give the desired results. Yesterday’s meeting between the two foreign ministers was a real hole in the water, while we wait to understand when there will be the fourth round of negotiations in Belarus, even if the first three have hardly seen any progress.

But what exactly is the Austria model? And would it also apply in Ukraine? “The Declaration of Neutrality is a constitutional act of the Austrian Parliament, promulgated on October 26, 1955, which sanctioned the perpetual neutrality of the country – explains Treccani – From a juridical point of view, constitutional neutralization is similar to the permanent one, adopted for example by Switzerland or the Vatican City, although not based on an international agreement: it is based on the fundamental law of a state, committing it not to adhere in peacetime to military alliances (Austrian law expressly prohibits the installation on the national territory of foreign military bases), and confirming his will to remain extraneous to any future conflict“.

The Austrian one was not a free choice, but a political compromise: “It was a consequence of the four-party military occupation (US, British, French and Soviet) following the Second World War, from which Austria was able to free itself thanks to the signing, by the occupying powers, of the State Treaty of May 15, 1955.“, the encyclopedia continues. The Soviets asked Vienna to also sign the Moscow memorandum, to prevent it from joining NATO forever.

The deal basically worked. Today Austria is not part of NATO and has remained essentially neutral, apart from some peacekeeping missions to which it collaborates. However, this did not prevent her from joining the European Union in 1995. The biggest obstacle to this hypothesis could be Ukraine, which is not certain would accept a similar solution. First of all because it is not certain that this would spare her from new attacks and secondly because a constitutional reform would be needed, given that the Kiev law provides for the possibility of joining NATO. Of course the negotiations will have to go on and it is not certain that, with the passage of time, the hypothesis of one perpetual neutrality doesn’t really catch on.