Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has said that he intends to keep the country neutral in light of the war in Ukraine.
"Austria was neutral, Austria is neutral, and Austria will remain neutral," Nehammer said to journalists during a visit to Qatar on Monday.
Neutrality is important, he said, adding that he considered the question of Austria's neutrality closed.
Against the background of the war in Ukraine, Austrian politicians and media have been debating whether the country should join NATO.
Pamela Rendi-Wagner, chairwoman of the Social Democratic Party, the second largest party behind Nehammer's Austrian People's Party, had already rejected such a course of action.
Instead, she argued for an efficient army and better collaboration on security and foreign policy in Europe.
