by Monica Ricci Sargentini
The Ukrainian president intends to change the constitution with a referendum, but the agreement will then be “guaranteed” by a pool of external forces
What is the formula that could guarantee Ukraine’s neutrality while leaving a path open to the country’s democratic and economic aspirations to one day be part of the EU? Yesterday, in an interview with Russian media, Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated that the key issues in negotiations with Russia are security guarantees, neutrality and Ukraine’s nonnuclear status. The President of Ukraine assured yesterday that a referendum will make it possible to change the constitution on Ukraine’s neutral status in a few months, a period shorter than parliamentary procedures. Ukrainians will certainly need some form of “guaranteed neutrality,” that is, protected by a pool of external powers such as the US, European countries, and possibly China. Among the existing models, the Austrian seems to be gaining ground.
Austria
Austria has been a neutral state since the end of World War II, when Austrian territory was divided into four zones of occupation: the Sovietcontrolled east, the Americancontrolled west, the Britishcontrolled south, and the western end controlled by the French. On May 15, 1955, the four victorious powers and Austria signed the Austrian Independence Treaty, which ended the state of war, recognized Austria’s full sovereignty and committed it to permanent neutrality. On October 26, the last occupying troops left the country and on the same day the Vienna state parliament passed the constitutional law by which the republic undertook not to join NATO, not to allow the stationing of foreign troops on its territory, not to take part in a war . At the same time, Austria was free to choose its political and economic course, as confirmed by EU membership in 1995.
Austrian neutrality is still a reality, although over the years it has assumed an “active” character. In fact, both during and after the Cold War, Vienna was a bridge and a place of mediation where numerous international negotiations took place. In addition, after a constitutional amendment in 1997, the Austrian armed forces took part in various peacekeeping missions under the aegis of the UN, including in Kosovo, Lebanon and BosniaHerzegovina.
Although Austria never joined NATO, it nevertheless joins the Partnership for Peace, which promotes bilateral cooperation with countries in the alliance, and takes part in meetings of the Council of the EuroAtlantic Partnership, a forum for security dialogue.
Sweden
When World War II broke out, Sweden had been neutral for more than a century since the end of the Napoleonic Wars and did not take part in the conflict, although it did grant some logistical facilities to Germany in the first phase and later, from 1944, to the Allies. A position reinforced in 1949 when Stockholm refused to join NATO. Under international law, Sweden has committed itself to “conventional neutrality” and thus not to permanent neutrality. As a member of the EU, he is among the advocates of intensifying common defense and security policies, and Swedish troops along with Finnish, Norwegian, Estonian and Irish participate in the Nordic Battalion. From 2015, as a result of Russian military activism, military spending has increased and the defense system of the strategically important island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea has been strengthened. Now the debate on joining the Atlantic Alliance has resumed.
Finland
Finland, during the Cold War, opted for equidistance between the two blocs, but without introducing legal restrictions that might preclude future changes. So much so that Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has been attending Atlantic Alliance summits in recent weeks and recently declared she was ready to give up Finland’s neutrality in order to join Western forces and support Ukraine.
March 28, 2022 (change March 28, 2022 | 12:37)
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