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Austrian Chancellor promises more sanctions during Kyiv visit

Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer visited Kyiv on Saturday and promised to keep ramping up sanctions against Russia until the war ends, but faced tough questions.

Published: 9 April 2022 15:31 CEST
Austrian Chancellor promises more sanctions during Kyiv visit
Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer arrives to attend an European Union Summit with all 27 EU leaders at The European Council Building in Brussels on December 16, 2021.(Photo by JOHANNA GERON / POOL / AFP)

Austria is supporting Ukraine in the war with Russia with humanitarian aid and technology and “not only with words”, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said at a joint press conference on Saturday.

Nehammer (ÖVP) spoke with the Ukrainian leader in Kyiv during a “solidarity visit” and promised more support for the country’s armed forces, including rescue vehicles and fire trucks. Nehammer also promised more fuel donations and stated that sanctions against Russia would only escalate until the war stops.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Why Austria won’t allow Ukraine’s Zelensky to speak before parliament

“While Ukrainian people die, there are not enough sanctions”, Nehammer said.

The ÖVP politician also asked for an international investigation of the alleged war crimes perpetrated by Russian troops.

Austria is a neutral country, and it cannot send deadly weapons or military assistance to Ukraine, but Zelensky thanked the Austrian authorities for “providing help by other means”.

Nehammer faced with hard questions

When asked why Austria wouldn’t agree to a total gas embargo against Russia, Nehammer said that the European Union measures against the country would become more targeted, reaching components of aircraft and drones.

However, the Chancellor, who has a military background, said that sanctions must affect those against whom they are directed – not those who are enforcing them.

He promised the sanctions would be the “toughest in the history of the EU” and that Austria would be a reliable partner in advocating them.

Like many other countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Austria is heavily dependent on Russia to fulfill its energy demands.

Before Russia invaded Ukraine, Elisabeth Christen, Senior Economist at the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (Wifo), told The Local that 80 per cent of Austria’s gas is imported from Russia and that most of the EU is heavily dependent on Russian gas.

READ ALSO: How reliant is Austria on Russia for energy?

The activities of the Austrian lender Raiffeisen Bank with significant exposure to Russian debt, were also questioned.

Nehammer said that the bank has many branches not only in Russia but that it is also a significant employer in Ukraine. He added that Raiffeisen “immediately supported” the sanctions against Russia and that circumvention of the measures would not be accepted in Austria.

READ ALSO: Why did Austria change policy to expel Russian diplomats?

The Austrian chancellor was the most recent of several EU heads of state to visit Ukraine. This Friday, EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen was also in Kyiv. She said that “Ukraine belongs with the European family”.

Zelensky stated that the solidarity visits are a “beautiful signal” that the world stands with Ukraine.

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UKRAINE

Two years of war: Ukrainian refugees face lasting exile in Austria

Iryna, Maryna, Katya -- three generations from one family -- fled their home in southern Ukraine for Austria just after the war started, hoping to return quickly.

Published: 12 February 2024 11:43 CET
Two years of war: Ukrainian refugees face lasting exile in Austria

But two years later, these hopes are fading.

Just a few days ago, a fresh attack blew off the roofs of many buildings intheir home city of Mykolaiv. “Ukraine’s future is not clear. I think that the war will not stop, even in one or two years,” said Maryna Troshchenko, 43, while showing photos of the damage sent by relatives still living in the port city.

Troshchenko, her mother and her daughter, who all now live in Vienna, are among six million Ukrainian refugees, marking the biggest exodus since World War II, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Germany and Poland host the largest populations, with about one million Ukrainian refugees in each country.

Incessant bombings and a lack of progress on the front make their return in the short term increasingly improbable.

‘Started from scratch’

After months of housing problems and rejected CVs, Troshchenko finally landed a job in a supermarket, enabling the trio to move into their own apartment this year.

“I started from scratch” at the bakery department before being promoted to head cashier, said the former purchasing director, who did not speak a word of German when she arrived. “We are happy to have been able to accomplish so much in two years,” the divorcee added.

Her daughter, Katya, 17, has managed to obtain her Ukrainian school graduation certificate while attending a Viennese high school, from where she is eyeing to graduate next year.

Mother Maryna Troshchenko (L) from southern Ukraine with her daughter Katya Troshchenko (R) and grandmother Iryna Simonova pose for photos in their apartment in Vienna, Austria on February 8, 2024. (Photo by Alex HALADA / AFP)

Katya’s grandmother, Iryna Simonova, 64, meanwhile, has been able to find a volleyball team to practice her favourite sport and has made friends. But tears stream from her eyes as soon as she thinks of her home country as she recalls leaving behind her mother, who at 87 refused to join them.

‘Build a future’

At refugee help organisation Diakonie in Austria, workers note that many Ukrainian refugees have decided to try to settle after being paralysed by the “dilemma of waiting” to return home.

“For a long time, it was very difficult for them to decide how to proceed further,” Sarah Brandstetter, deputy at Diakonie’s Ukrainian refugee advice centre, told AFP.

“Two years later, the situation has changed — people are now planning to stay in the country. They have their children here in schools. They want to build a future for themselves,” she added.

But especially mothers of young children who find themselves alone to take care of them continue to struggle.

The initial surge of solidarity is also running out of steam in some places.

In Austria — which hosts some 80,000 Ukrainian refugees — “the increase of energy costs and high inflation was a game changer”, according to Christoph Riedl, a migration and integration expert at Diakonie.

In neighbouring Germany, anti-migration discourse is also on the rise amid a spike in the number of asylum-seekers from outside of Europe, weighing heavily on reception capacities.

Demographic challenge

Until March 2025, under EU rules, Ukrainians are eligible for temporary protection, a status allowing them access to the labour market, housing, and social and medical assistance. But what is next, experts wonder. Riedl said the EU should agree now on a
lasting status.

“When a conflict lasts for two or three years, people change their minds. It’s a reality check. They integrate, they have a new life,” he told AFP.

Faced with a real demographic challenge, Ukrainian authorities fear the massive exodus — and in contrast to other nations want refugees to be able to return.

A photo taken in Vienna, Austria on February 8, 2024 shows a sign at the entrance to the Ukrainian refugee advice centre of the Diakonie help organisation. Workers note that many Ukrainian refugees have decided to try to settle after being paralysed by the “dilemma of waiting” to return home. (Photo by Alex HALADA / AFP)

“We find a somewhat specific situation in Ukraine — a country at war, which also wants to maintain the greatest possible connection with its population,” Philippe Leclerc, UNHCR Director for Europe, told AFP.

Katya Troshchenko too insists on the importance “for young Ukrainians to come back to rebuild Ukraine, to build a new, modern country, which will be in EU too”.

However — still traumatised by the nights in air raid shelters at the start of the war — she is “afraid” to return.   

“I don’t want to see how it’s absolutely ruined by Russians, and I don’t want to see my ruined childhood,” she said. And she has no illusions — she will probably have to stay in Vienna for her university studies.

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