AUSTRIA: International status = neutrality

We hear a lot about Swiss neutrality. but what about Austria? Here is an extract from a Reuters report (2/18/03). "Austria blocks US troop movements: Neutral Austria refused to let the US redeploy troops from Germany to Italy across the Austrian Alps, the fastest route, and voiced surprise at criticism from the US. Austria, an EU member but not a NATO member due to a neutral status created after World War Two, said it could not allow troops it believed were being moved for a US attack on Iraq to cross its territory. "Austrian law does not allow us to approve foreign troop movements without the proper grounds, in this case a UN mandate (for an Iraq war)," the Defense Ministry said. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who has sharply criticized European foes of an Iraq war such as France and Germany, accused Austria of blocking the movement of US troops by rail from Germany to Italy".

Ronald Hilton - 2/18/03