Dear Austrians!
“Perpetual neutrality” – a term that we know, a term with which we associate good, positive, valuable, important things and which is inseparably linked to our homeland Austria.
69 years ago today, on October 26, 1955, the National Council passed perpetual neutrality as a federal constitutional law. Perpetual neutrality was the basis for the signing of the state treaty with which Austria regained its freedom and sovereignty after the horrors of the Second World War and a ten-year period of occupation. This created the foundation on which our parents and grandparents were able to achieve a modest level of prosperity and Austria as a whole was able to write an unprecedented success story for decades. Thanks for that!
Because without the hard work, the courage, the love of our homeland and the belief in our own strength of this generation, but also the privations that these women and men endured for us who came after them, our Austria would be a whole today different. Our perpetual neutrality is a bringer of freedom, a bringer of sovereignty and a bringer of prosperity. Above all, it is one thing: a bringer of peace and a guarantor of peace.
No one knows this better than this generation, to whom we all owe so much. Because she actually experienced what we all – that’s what we call the grace of late birth – thank God only know from history books and stories: children who lost their fathers in the war and often never even met them. Mothers whose sons never came home and sisters who cried for their brothers. Families whose belongings were destroyed in bombing raids – countless people suffered such fates in 1955, ten years after the end of the war. For them, perpetual neutrality was linked to the hope and fervent wish that our homeland would never again be exposed to the suffering of war.
And therefore it is not surprising that it was politicians like Bruno Kreisky who knew from the bottom of their hearts about the invaluable value of perpetual neutrality and based their political actions on it. One could say that they were active politicians of neutrality and that is precisely why they became true statesmen. Appreciated and recognized also on the international political stage.
You have experienced what war means. They knew what neutrality meant in times of war. And at a time when Europe and the world was divided between West and East and when the possible escalation of a cold war into a hot one with the most devastating consequences was almost daily in the air, it was clear to them that Austria’s place was not there on the side of one or the other party to the conflict, but in between and therefore on the side of one’s own people and peace.
In this way, these statesmen guaranteed our population freedom and security and Austria became an internationally respected place for dialogue and negotiations to resolve conflicts. Because when two people argue, there is no need for a third party as a comrade-in-arms, but rather as a mediator. This is exactly what constitutes the peace-bringing power of our perpetual neutrality both internally and externally.
And just as perpetual neutrality has led our Austria safely and peacefully through a world full of conflicts in the past, I am convinced that it has not lost any of this strength in the present and for the future – quite the opposite. Whatever others want to tell us: Neutrality is the future, it is a huge opportunity that a small country like ours has. It has not had its day, it has served us well and will continue to do so if we revive it. More neutrals are needed, not less.
Especially now, when a murderous war is raging in Europe, a few hundred kilometers from our border, and the self-proclaimed European Union peace project has fallen into warlike rhetoric and actions, fueling the terror and immeasurable suffering with ever more and heavier arms deliveries has sparked an economic war with sanctions, the hour of neutrality has arrived. When, if not in war and conflict, does it have to be used? That’s exactly what it’s made for.
I am firmly convinced that the decision-makers of the other parties have made a serious mistake by giving the word to the warmongers, allowing weapons to be co-financed with our tax money and dragging our Austria into the economic war, which is also destroying the hard-earned prosperity and life becomes unaffordable for far too many. Leaving the tried and tested path of neutrality and moving towards a military alliance, NATO, which is no longer a pure defense alliance, is not in the interests of the vast majority of Austrians.
Therefore, it is my and our goal as libertarians to return Austria to the path of perpetual neutrality, peace, freedom, security and prosperity. So that we, our children and grandchildren, can continue to write the red-white-red success story, the foundation of which was laid exactly 69 years ago today.
We libertarians share this great goal with a large part of the Austrian population. More than 1.4 million people made exactly this decision with their vote on September 29th and made the FPÖ the party with the most votes in a National Council election for the first time – in the hope of five good years.
Those political forces that put other interests above those of the Austrians, that see perpetual neutrality as imposed at one time, outdated at another, and have shrunk it to a very narrow, purely military core and do not maintain that, have been given the bill by the voters also presented with historic defeats. However, the election losers are now not doing what would be sensible, namely rethinking and correcting their mistakes, but rather they believe that the voters were wrong. They don’t want to follow the will of the voters, but instead want to bend it through sometimes adventurous contortions so that losers become winners.
Dear Austrians!
The path to Austria’s freedom and sovereignty through a state treaty and perpetual neutrality was long and rocky, but successful in the end. In the same way, the path to political renewal, with which the people are again placed at the center of all political action, and their interests and not those of any elite or the system become the sole guideline of a government, will ultimately be crowned with success. This can be delayed, but it cannot be stopped or even prevented.
Hope, confidence and the will of the population are stronger than maintaining power, greed for positions and aloofness from politicians who have long since turned away from the people and believe that they can simply ignore the resulting loss of trust. In view of the major challenges, from illegal mass immigration to rising prices to attacks on our neutrality and sovereignty and the dramatic economic situation, Austria needs a stable political leadership that is inspired by the will to face these challenges together in close solidarity with the population master. We are ready for this and that is why our hand remains extended for negotiations.
All this so that Austrians can look back on their homeland in the future as a country where people are doing well again. Five good years, just as we promised: That’s what we freedoms stand for, that’s what I stand for, and I’m sure we’ll achieve this goal together.
Long live our eternal neutrality, long live our freedom and long live our democratic, sovereign and defensive Republic of Austria!
I wish you and your families a happy and happy national holiday with all my heart!
The video with the speech by FPÖ federal party chairman Herbert Kickl can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1Abr_kOKIs