Austria's far-right wants to stop payments to EU military fund that helps Ukraine

The Austrian far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), which is predicted to win the September parliamentary elections, has announced in its election programme that it intends to stop payments to the European Peace Fund, which the EU uses to help Ukraine with weapons. 

According to the text of the FPÖ manifesto, the programme states that today, Austria is allegedly violating its neutrality by contributing to the European Peace Fund, which is focused on supporting the Ukrainian military. 

"We stand for an active policy of peace and neutrality – payments to the EU Peace Fund should be stopped. Austria should use its money for its own army," the FPÖ manifesto says. 

In addition, it says that Vienna's "anti-neutrality" towards the war in Ukraine harms Austria more than Russia and that the prolonged war creates an additional burden and fuels energy prices. 

A separate item in the programme mentions the need to continue consuming Russian gas. While the FPÖ says Austria should reduce its dependence on other countries for energy and promote the use of renewable energy sources, the far-right party also believes renewable energy sources cannot cover all of Austria's demand. 

"Russian gas will continue to make an important contribution to our security of supply. The irresponsible sanctions, which are counterproductive market interference, have led to a manifold increase in gas prices. This has put not only private households but also industry, especially small and medium-sized companies, in a position to face problems that are sometimes impossible to solve," the manifesto says. 

It is worth noting that Austria is currently contributing to the European Peace Fund, which is used to support non-lethal measures. 

Elections to the National Council, the lower house of the Austrian parliament, will be held on 29 September. 

The Austrian far-right may return to power for the first time since the Ibiza-gate scandal, which buried the coalition of the far-right and the right in the country.