New Delhi: In a sign of changing dynamics within Europe, Austria and Switzerland – known for their strong traditions of foreign policy neutrality – have joined a regional grouping to develop a common air defense shield in the wake of Russia’s attack on Ukraine. wants to
According to the Austrian broadcaster, the grouping is known as the ‘European Sky Shield Initiative’ (ESSI) for air defense and the two countries signed it on July 7 in Bern, Switzerland. ORF,
This comes a few months after two Nordic countries – Denmark and Sweden – became part of the initiative.
Austrian Foreign Minister Claudia Tanner said that Austria will be protected from short and medium-range missiles from 2024 and its airspace will be completely covered in 2025.
However, both countries made it clear that their neutrality would not be lost by joining the initiative.
Germany led the initiative after Russia invaded Ukraine last year, prompting other European countries to worry about their own security.
In October last year, the defense ministers of 14 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members – Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and the UK – visited . Together with the Nordic country Finland created such a project.
Today, the number of ESSI members has gone up to 19. ThePrint takes a look at the initiative.
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What is the objective of the initiative?
The initiative aims to strengthen NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) to create a European air and missile defense system through common acquisitions of air defense equipment and missiles by European countries.
At the time of the signing of the letter of intent last October, NATO Deputy Secretary-General Mircea Giona said: “This commitment is even more important today, as we witness the brutal and indiscriminate missile attacks by Russia in Ukraine, which have resulted in civilian casualties.” and destroying critical infrastructure. In this context, I strongly welcome Germany’s leadership in launching the European Sky Shield initiative.
The new assets, fully interoperable and seamlessly integrated within the NATO air and missile defense system, will significantly enhance the grouping’s capability to defend the alliance from all air and missile threats, he added.
Interestingly, NATO member France is not part of the initiative and has actually spoken out against it.
Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke at the end of a meeting of European defense ministers and said: “We need to know what the threat situation is… And then, what can we, the Europeans, be able to produce?” able? And then what do we need to buy?”
He cautioned against immediately buying “whatever is on the shelves”.
The French government reportedly believes that since the new system relies heavily on the US and Israeli defense industry, the project does not adequately protect European sovereignty.
ESSI encourages member countries to jointly develop an air and missile defense system using interoperable, off-the-shelf solutions.
The initiative aims to take advantage of the pre-existing NATO cooperation framework and protect member states against missile threats if faced with air and missile threats in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
NATO termed it a “multinational and multi-pronged approach”, saying it provides a flexible and scalable way for nations to strengthen their deterrence and defense in an “efficient and cost-effective manner”.
According to a NATO release, the multinational acquisition for ESSI will be carried out through a rapid acquisition track within NATO’s Modular Ground-Based Air Defense High Visibility Project, as decided by the 10 allied defense ministers in February.
What about neutrality?
Switzerland is a landlocked mountainous country at the junction of Western, Central and Southern Europe, bordered by Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Liechtenstein.
A key feature of Switzerland’s foreign policy was the country’s ‘neutral’ status in the 1815 Treaty of Paris.
It adheres to the principle of not involving itself in any armed conflict between other states. Under the policy of neutrality, the country cannot allow other states to use its territory for war purposes.
Reportedly, there is an internal debate going on in the country regarding its nerve status. With the Russia-Ukraine war getting too close for comfort for Switzerland, it is believed that the country – along with its participation in the ESSI – has begun to move into the NATO camp to maintain its security.
However, Switzerland is not a member of the NATO alliance, which requires reciprocal action and assistance in times of war.
In March this year, when Germany asked to sell Switzerland mothballed panther 2 Despite assurances from Germany that the tanks would not be transferred to Ukraine, the country refused to increase military aid to Ukraine.
A spokesman for the Swiss Defense Ministry had said, “Battle tanks will not be transferred to Ukraine in the future.” reuters,
However, people argue that Switzerland stopped following the path of “traditional neutrality” after joining the United Nations in 2002. Switzerland, in fact, even joined hands with the European Union to impose sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. ,
In addition, Swisscoy, a unit of the Swiss Armed Forces, was also deployed to Kosovo as part of the NATO-led Kosovo Force for peacekeeping.
Switzerland is no exception to the question of neutrality. Austria also considers itself a neutral state – a feature of its foreign policy currently undergoing testing.
Sweden and Finland also maintained neutrality until May 2022, when they submitted their official applications to join NATO to its Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
NATO Heads of State and Government invited Finland and Sweden to join the Alliance at the Madrid Summit on June 29, 2022.
(Editing by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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