Study paper from 2017 in the field of Politics - International Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflicts, Security, Grade: 1.0, University of Vienna (Institute of Political Science), Course: Foreign, Security, and Peace Policy of Austria, Language: German.

Abstract: In 1955, the country, dominated by the conditions set by the victorious powers of World War II, became independent. A key condition for this—especially from the Soviet Union—was Austria's neutral foreign policy orientation. With the Federal Constitutional Law on Permanent Neutrality, Austria fulfilled this condition. Over the decades, the global political situation changed. The obligations of neutrality did not lose their validity but instead took on a differentiated, engaged character. This is compatible with membership in the United Nations and peacekeeping missions under a mandate from the UN Security Council.

Since Austria's accession to the EU in 1995, a debate has regularly arisen regarding the compatibility of permanent neutrality and the obligations of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The Lisbon Treaty of 2007 introduced mutual assistance clauses among EU member states, which at first glance present a clear contradiction to neutrality. This paper analyzes how exactly this assistance clause affects military neutrality. Based on the so-called "Irish Formula" integrated into the Lisbon Treaty and the case study of France invoking the alliance clause in 2016, it is determined that there is a legal and realpolitik compatibility between Austria's permanent neutrality and the obligation of assistance in the EU's CFSP at the time of publication.