
Austria Prepares to Give Up ‘Dream' of Disarmament
The chancellor, Christian Stocker, who took office in March and is a member of the center-right Austrian People's Party, told The New York Times in an interview in Vienna on Monday that the historically neutral Alpine nation must respond to growing threats and uncertainties. That means reversing a decades-long trend of shrinking military budgets as a share of the economy.
'After the fall of the Iron Curtain, after a peace effort that evolved from the 1970s under Jimmy Carter, disarmament was a dream that was dreamed but is now over,' Mr. Stocker said.
His comments are the latest response from European leaders to a rapidly changing security situation on the continent, which has wiped out the so-called 'peace dividend' many countries enjoyed after the Cold War.
Countries across Europe have pledged to ramp up military spending in the face of Russia's three-year invasion of Ukraine and fears that the United States will pull back some or all of the troops, weapons and other support that have for decades helped guarantee European security.
Austria's neighbor Germany has pledged to spend 5 percent of its annual economic output on military and strategic infrastructure, an increase financed in part by additional borrowing. Its fellow NATO members committed to the same target last month, under prodding from President Trump.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Fox News
8 minutes ago
- Fox News
'War of exhaustion': Foreign leaders discuss efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene, Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds and Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur discuss reaching peace in Europe on 'Special Report.'


Fox News
8 minutes ago
- Fox News
Supreme Court immunity ruling helps Obama, but Trump says ‘not people around him'
Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich reports on the 'issues back home' that persist as President Donald Trump visits Scotland on 'Special Report.'
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
New Milan offer for Jashari at 35m plus 3m bonus
Fresh details are emerging on the new Milan offer for Ardon Jashari, which will reportedly be worth €35m plus €3m in add-ons to Club Brugge. It remains to be seen if this will be sufficient, but the Rossoneri are increasingly confident that they will get the all clear over the next few days. Milan changing the Jashari offer BRUGES, BELGIUM – FEBRUARY 12: Ardon Jashari #30 of Club Brugge KV looks on following his teams 2-1 victory against Atalanta in the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off first leg match at Jan Breydel Stadium on February 12, 2025 in Bruges, Belgium. (Photo by Alex Bierens) There had already been numerous reports that the format of the proposal would change, if not the total figure of circa €38m. That is now confirmed by Sport Mediaset and who note that Milan informed Jashari's intermediaries that a new formal bid is coming this weekend. It is going to be worth €35m as a fixed fee plus €3m in add-ons, an improvement from the previous rejected bid that had only €32m guaranteed and the other €6m in various bonuses. The add-ons should also be quite easy to activate and therefore be practically a guaranteed figure of €38m.