Suchergebnisse

In the process of the postwar settlement in Austria in 1940-1950, the occupying Western forces (together with the Soviet Union), sought to draw the country in their military-political orbit. The USSR opposed to the country siding with unfriendly forces again, while Austria itself, spooked by Sovietization on the one hand and drowning in the geopolitical interests at large, decided, after intensive political debate and hard-going negotiations with the parties concerned, for an independent role in the triangle of interests formed by the West -- Austria -- the USSR. The present article discusses the Austrian example against the background of the current, 2008, debate on NATO enlargement: the neutrality concept; the 1954 Berlin Conference; the 1955 secret meeting of Ambassadors in Vienna and its subsequent negotiations with Moscow; the practice and prospects of Austrian neutrality as it developed over the last decades, keeping its character of negotiation and adaptability to geopolitical changes. Adapted from the source document.