Contribution of the Party of Labour of Austria

The question of war and peace has been of immediate concern to communist and workers' parties in Europe and beyond during recent years. The ongoing imperialist war in Ukraine is being waged by the Kiev regime on behalf of NATO and EU countries against the Russian Federation, which in turn is being supported by its allies in various ways and at various levels. What we are seeing here, then, is the continuation of the politics and economics of imperialism as the highest stage of capitalism, using military means to compete for geopolitical positions, spheres of influence, transport routes, resources, raw materials, market shares and investments. At the same time, we see from the formation of blocs that this is a harbinger of direct military conflicts over the redivision of the world and the imperialist hegemonic position, with the US and capitalist China ultimately clashing.The countries of the world participate in alliance politics according to their international position in the imperialist hierarchy, influenced by uneven capitalist development. This implies that existing alliances are fractured and that given constellations remain dynamic.

Austria positions itself in the transatlantic bloc, although Austrian monopoly capital also pursued strong interests in Russia and Belarus. In addition, Austria's formal neutrality status prevents it from participating fully in the plans and activities of NATO and the EU. Unlike Finland and Sweden, the Austrian government has not been able to abolish neutrality because it cannot muster a majority in favour of doing so among the population. Nevertheless, Austria is participating in the financing of Ukraine, tolerating illegal arms transports and overflights, and participating in the NATO project ‘Sky Shield’ and, of course, in the economic war against Russia. However, this is to its own detriment: Austria has the highest rates of inflation, corporate insolvencies and unemployment, the budget deficit is immense, and the capitalist economy is in recession. The population is plagued by austerity policies, with not only social benefits but also wages and pensions being effectively cut. Up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees have been taken in by Austria.

With regard to the other prominent stage of war, namely Palestine, the Austrian government is playing a particularly shameful role. It has proven to be one of Israel's closest political allies and has elevated ‘solidarity with Israel’ to a matter of national interest, while showing no concern for the rights of the Palestinians. However, under the impact of the undeniable war of annihilation and genocide in Gaza, as well as ongoing protests, there has been some movement in this regard recently. A growing section of the Austrian population is no longer willing to believe all the lies and excuses of the Austrian government and the state and corporate media, which want to immunise Israel against any criticism and resort to unfounded accusations of anti-Semitism to achieve this.

The Party of Labour of Austria has been active in solidarity with Palestine since its foundation, and we have naturally intensified our efforts during the current war. As a party, we have succeeded in drawing public and media attention to the Palestinian cause through various activities and in organising regular large rallies in alliance constellations. The PdA is at the forefront of the struggle not only for a ceasefire in Gaza, but also for the withdrawal of the Israeli army from all occupied territories, for the reversal of annexations and settlements, and for the creation and recognition of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The question of the war in Ukraine is different, especially since it is more obviously linked to imperialist conflicts between major powers. From the outset, the PdA has said that this is an imperialist war, that neither side is fighting a just war, and that we will therefore not take sides. Our support and solidarity go to the working class in the affected countries, who are being led into slaughter by those in power. We support peace activities, but we are well aware that imperialist peace is only a respite between wars. The oppressed must turn against their own oligarchy, force it to make peace and, ultimately, overthrow it in order to achieve lasting peace – because such peace can only exist beyond capitalism and imperialism. The struggle for peace is class struggle.

The imperialist alliances in Brussels want escalation around the war in Ukraine, and also in Vienna the government is constantly promoting warmongering. At the same time, the Austrian Armed Forces are being massively re-equipped and brought closer to NATO structures. The Minister of Defence says that the country must become ‘fit for war’. At this point, we are on the defensive. There is no real peace movement in Austria that truly lives up to this name, and our own influence is limited. But we are working on it. We are using the existence of the Neutrality Act to make it as difficult as possible for those in power to integrate Austria into NATO and EU military structures. It is helpful that the population rejects NATO and wants to maintain neutrality. We can work with that.

But we have certainly no illusions about neutrality and what it will mean in real political terms or in the end. We must move from our defensive position – for a policy of neutrality, against rearmament, against nuclear weapons, against militarisation – to the offensive, with an anti-militarist and anti-imperialist orientation that leads further to the heart of the matter: the necessity of class struggle to overthrow the ruling order, for socialist revolution and the construction of socialism and communism, a society without exploitation, oppression and war.