At a political level, representatives of all parties in the EU Parliament support resolutions for rearmament and warfare. In the UN General Assembly, Austria repeatedly voted against an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the condemnation of the actions of the Israeli military.
Military rearmament has increased massively in the Alpine Republic in recent years. Since 2022, around €17 billion have been earmarked for the rearmament of the Austrian Armed Forces. Austria also joined the Sky Shield initiative, a German-European missile defence shield in which 21 other states are participating alongside Austria.
With the exception of the NEOS, which openly call for an end to the country’s military neutrality and the establishment of an EU army, all parties declare that they do not want to touch neutrality. In fact, such demands are repeatedly made behind closed doors by all parties.
This is in stark contrast to the mood among the population. Despite the media drumbeat for war and rearmament, according to a survey conducted at the beginning of 2024, 80 percent of Austrians want to maintain neutrality; 50 percent would “definitely not” defend their country with weapons.
The potential electoral success of the FPÖ is the result of the shift to the right of the entire bourgeoisie. Refugees are being made the scapegoat for the social crisis that the parties themselves have caused. The ruling class is consciously strengthening the most right-wing forces in order to suppress the growing opposition among the population.
The war drive requires ever more severe social attacks to finance rearmament. Added to this is an economic downturn, involving an increase in plant closures and job cuts. For the first time since the end of World War II, Austria’s economy has been shrinking for two consecutive years. As in Germany and other European countries, companies are closing and/or preparing mass layoffs. These are just a few current examples:
The Austrian subsidiary of the US electric automaker Fisker has recently filed for bankruptcy. Four hundred fifty employees have already had to leave the company, and now another 500 jobs are on the verge of being cut.Hammerer Aluminium Industries (HAI), based in Ranshofen, plans to cut 250 of 2,100 jobs across the group in the course of the year, including 100 of the 750 jobs in the Innviertel region of Upper Austria. The group operates eight sites in Austria, Germany, Romania and Poland. Demand has collapsed since the second half of 2023.The Upper Austrian technology group Fronius is also cutting jobs. In June, 350 employees in the solar division were laid off, and now the group is cutting a further 450 jobs in Austria and 200 in subsidiaries in Germany and the Czech Republic.
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Publish date : 2024-09-25 16:57:00
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