"The end of armament"

KPÖ wants to abolish the army in the long term

The KPÖ rejects EU arms deliveries to Ukraine and demands a ban on arms transports through Austria.

(Bild: P. Huber)

In the final spurt of the election campaign, the KPÖ is increasingly focusing on the issue of peace in order to win votes. Under the slogan "Money for living instead of dying", the Communists are calling for an end to military rearmament. In the long term, the KPÖ aims to abolish the Austrian army.

The latest increases in the Austrian defense budget have met with clear rejection, as Josef Meszlenyi, third on the list and city councillor in Knittelfeld, explained.

Armies in Europe superfluous
The prerequisite for this is "a stable peace order", which ensures that inter-state relations are peaceful and that wars in Europe are permanently ruled out. Then, says the militia soldier, armies in Europe would be superfluous. However, civil protection in Austria must continue to be guaranteed.

Immediate ceasefire and peace negotiations
Meszlenyi and the Vienna top candidate Claudia Krieglsteiner, who presented the KPÖ's "peace program", called for an immediate ceasefire and peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. Krieglsteiner referred to the Vatican's peace initiative.

Armed Forces soldiers on flood mission

(Bild: BMLV/Daniel TRIPPOLT)

Rapprochement with NATO harms neutrality
The rapprochement with NATO in recent years is damaging the credibility of Austria's neutrality "and is costing us all money, money that is sorely lacking in other areas", criticized Meszlenyi. At the press conference, the cost of a Eurofighter flight hour was compared to the annual salary of a teacher (60,000 euros each, according to the Communist Party) or the cost of the Sky Shield missiles to the cost of 25 new hospitals (six billion euros).

The Communists are calling for Austria to withdraw from the NATO Partnership for Peace, the EU defense cooperation PESCO and the Sky Shield air defense system.

ÖVP: "Irresponsible demand" by the Communists
Sharp criticism of the KPÖ's positions came from the ÖVP. "A strong national defense secures peace and ensures security," said ÖVP defense spokesman Friedrich Ofenauer in a press release. The demand to abolish the Austrian Armed Forces is "irresponsible". Questioning the NATO partnership for peace undermines important humanitarian missions in which the armed forces have been involved for decades, criticized Ofernauer and said: "Obviously, the KPÖ is only interested in preparing the ground for its ideological and historical 'partner' Russia".

The KPÖ rejects international deployments of the Austrian Armed Forces under NATO or EU command - such as the decades-long participation in the EU mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the NATO-led KFOR mission in Kosovo. In accordance with neutrality, the Austrian Armed Forces should only be deployed abroad under UN command.