Will Austria abandon neutrality to join NATO?:

By declaring their intention to join the NATO defense alliance, Finland and Sweden are respectively abandoning decades and centuries of neutrality. Yet Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has said Austria has no intention of following suit.

He reiterated that sentiment in April, shortly before traveling to Moscow to implore Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his invasion of neighboring Ukraine, saying, "Austria was neutral, Austria is neutral, and Austria will remain neutral."

But then, 50 prominent Austrians — from business, politics, academia and civil society — raised the issue publicly. In an open letter, they called on Federal President Alexander van der Bellen to independently examine whether the country's policy of neutrality was fitting for the times.