The right-wing Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) is calling for an immediate end to all aid from Austria to Ukraine, complaining that the country had “long since turned into a bottomless pit” for Austria’s billions.
Yesterday, FPÖ general secretary Michael Schnedlitz said: “Not a single euro more must flow. While local families have to watch every penny, senior citizens struggle to buy food in social supermarkets and the health system groans under the strain, the so-called foreign minister Meinl-Reisinger is giving away our tax money to a country that is known for its corruption like no other.
“This is an unprecedented political affront to our own population.”
He added: “It is unacceptable that Austrians are being squeezed dry to finance a foreign system where funds are disappearing into corrupt channels. There is no interest in peace … and there is no place in government for politicians who clearly see their loyalty lying more in Kiev than in Vienna!
“Those who forget their own people have no place in politics. The FPÖ says clearly: The billions of neutral Austrians belong to the Austrians – and not to some war-mongering president or a dubious network in Ukraine,” Schnedlitz concluded.
His comments followed an announcement on January 22 by Austria’s liberal foreign minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger that her ministry was increasing humanitarian aid to Ukraine by €3 million from Austria’s Foreign Disaster Fund with €1 million each disbursed to the International Red Cross (ICRC), UNICEF and UNHCR.
Meinl-Reisinger said at the time: “Houses and flats for people in need in Ukraine are to be made habitable again in winter and assistance is to be provided for the operation of educational, health and social institutions.”
She expressed her disdain with the FPÖ’s stance in a post on X yesterday, writing: “When did complete brutality become a political concept? In Ukraine, millions of people are currently without electricity and heating in temperatures well below freezing.
“Of course, in keeping with its tradition, Austria is helping people in need in our immediate neighbourhood to the best of our ability and within our budget.
‘What’s more, at some point the FPÖ will have to decide: People who have to live in such conditions will set out on their journey,” Meinl-Reisinger said.
“If you really want to combat migration effectively, you also have to combat the causes of flight.”
