July 26, 2025 – Translated from German via Google and OFP
:
Michael Gruber/BMEIA
Beate Meinl-Reisinger is Austria’s first liberal foreign minister. In an interview, she explains why it is becoming increasingly difficult for Russia to continue the war in Ukraine. She makes a clear demand of Israel in the Middle East conflict.
Beate Meinl-Reisinger slept for only four hours. Austria’s Foreign Minister returned late from government talks in Rome – on a budget airline. To avoid disturbing anyone at home, she slept in her daughter’s empty bed. The leader of the liberal Neos party has been back in the office since shortly before 7:00 a.m.
WELT AM SONNTAG: Minister, what does freedom mean to you?
Beate Meinl-Reisinger: I’m concerned with freedom from state coercion and the freedom to lead a self-determined life. However, with the caveat: Freedom also requires a set of rules that ensure that every individual can live a maximum of freedom.
WAMS: Libertarianism is gaining popularity in America. What distinguishes liberalism in Europe from libertarianism in America ?
Meinl-Reisinger: It might be more refreshing for you to talk about this with philosophers.
WAMS: But the answer from a leading liberal politician is more interesting in this case.
Meinl-Reisinger: I’ve read Ayn Rand. I also understand many of the basic ideas of libertarianism. But I’m not a libertarian. I’m also not sure whether what we’re currently experiencing in America can be called libertarian. While it draws on libertarian ideas, it’s often combined in unspeakable ways with a tech-driven, sometimes religiously exaggerated, oligopolistic authoritarianism that almost bears monarchical traits. On the other hand, I understand the criticism of so-called libertarians of hypertrophic wokeism, this left-wing identity politics that doesn’t create a free society.
WAMS: It may pain you that liberals now lead only three governments in the EU.
Meinl-Reisinger: This goes to the heart of the matter. Now is the time when civic engagement must be upheld and demanded. Lethargy, isolation in the private sphere, and retreat into the new digital Biedermeier era—that is, the constant distraction by digital media, which primarily rewards those who shout the loudest and are the most radical—must not be allowed to become even more widespread in liberal democracies.
WAMS: Does a firewall against right and left make sense?
Meinl-Reisinger: It depends on how far you draw the firewall. I would certainly support bills from the partially right-wing extremist FPÖ in Austria if I considered them to be correct in terms of content. But I would never want to form a coalition with that party or see them in government.
WAMS: Let’s talk about foreign policy. Will there soon be a ceasefire in the Ukraine war?
Meinl-Reisinger: One thing is clear: Ukraine wants peace, Russia doesn’t. If Putin were truly interested in peace, he would begin ceasefire talks now. US President Trump has handed Crimea and several eastern oblasts to Putin on a silver platter, so to speak, and has also ruled out Ukraine’s membership in NATO. And what is Putin doing? He continues to wage a war of annihilation on the country.
WAMS: Russia has the momentum on the front.
Meinl-Reisinger: The momentum? I’m not so sure about that. Russia is suffering enormous losses.
WAMS: Putin doesn’t seem to care about them.
Meinl-Reisinger: At some point, the coffins will pile up in Russia. Add to that the disastrous economic situation. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for the Kremlin to continue this war. Putin knows he’s running out of time. That’s why he’s waging the war now with such brutal intensity.
WAMS: You recently spent several days traveling in the Middle East. Why?
Meinl-Reisinger: Sitting in Vienna or Brussels and communicating with the conflicting parties from afar is not enough. Austria stands with Israel. We understand Israel’s struggle against existential threats from outside. But as friends of Israel, we must now also tell the government in Jerusalem: We can no longer tolerate the humanitarian situation in Gaza. International humanitarian law in Gaza must be fully observed.
WAMS: Austria, together with more than two dozen states – Germany and the USA are not among them – is calling for an end to the Gaza war.
Meinl-Reisinger: The release of the remaining Israeli hostages and the end of the terrorist organization Hamas would also be crucial for this. The window for peace in the region is now open for a variety of reasons. Israel should seize this opportunity.
WAMS: The director of the Diplomatic Academy, Emil Brix, has suggested considering Austria’s accession to NATO. Do you support this?
Meinl-Reisinger: One thing is clear: neutrality alone does not protect us. What protects Austria against the backdrop of an increasingly uncertain global security situation and an increasingly aggressive Russia is investment in our own defense capabilities, but also in partnerships. I am fundamentally very open to a public debate about Austria’s security and defense policy future. While there is currently no majority in parliament or among the population for NATO membership, such a debate can nevertheless be very fruitful.
WAMS: It would also be a debate about the Austrians’ sacred cow, neutrality.
Meinl-Reisinger: It’s not that I wanted to join NATO with flying colors. But we can’t sit back and say: If we don’t hurt anyone, no one will hurt us. That would be naive. The world has changed. But I would like to say explicitly: With the EU, we already have a partner who will protect us in an emergency. At the same time, we make a significant contribution to European security. We deploy soldiers on numerous peacekeeping EU missions and do everything we can to support the common European security and defense policy financially, militarily, and politically. In this respect, Austria’s neutrality has already changed noticeably since joining the EU in 1995.
“Add to that the disastrous economic situation. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for the Kremlin to continue this war. Putin knows he’s running out of time. That’s why he’s waging the war now with such brutal intensity.”
All is not well for mafia land on the Western Front and on the home front.
“The director of the Diplomatic Academy, Emil Brix, has suggested considering Austria’s accession to NATO.”
In a war as the one in Ukraine, there is no such thing as neutrality. If both parties had acted aggressively and wanted to wage war, then yes. In this case, NO! Compare it to witnessing a woman getting raped, and you hold up your hand, saying, “Sorry, lady, I’m neutral”. In the eye of the law, you are aiding and abetting the rape. Austria (and Switzerland) are aiding and abetting the war in mafia land by doing nothing to aid the victim. And, if it should come to it, the mafia state would step on both countries like on any other to crush them and take over their wealth.