The Kyiv Maidan coup of 2014 and the subsequent civil war, but even more so the interstate imperialist war between the capitalist Russian Federation and Ukraine that began in 2022, have put Austrian capital in an ambivalent position. This corresponds to the policy of the federal government, which is naturally part of the Western bloc around the USA, NATO and EU, but at the same time has to take into account the special conditions and interests of Austrian imperialism. The Party of Labour of Austria (PdA) carries out an analysis and derives its positions from this.

Austrian capital was one of the main international beneficiaries of the counter-revolution in Eastern Europe and the USSR in 1989-1991. Austrian banks and corporations successfully invaded the countries of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe in the course of capitalist restoration - this initially affected the immediate neighbourhood: the Czechia and Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania and Croatia. Against the backdrop of privatisation and liberalisation, expansion was successful in countries that 75 years earlier were part of the territories of the Habsburg monarchy and which are still regarded as Austria's "backyard", at least economically, even in the power-limited republic. In the battle for investment spheres, market shares, raw materials and cheap labour, Austria was able to succeed above all in the financial sector, in retail chains, in telecommunications and the media, in energy supply, agriculture, the construction industry, but also in core industrial sectors. This new economic development of Austrian imperialism was also accompanied politically.

Austrian capital had an initial advantage here: due to its formal neutrality, which of course was never an actual neutrality, significant relationships had already been established with the socialist economies in the previous decades, which could be built upon in the 1990s. Of course, the Eastern European "transformation processes" and the eventual admission of the states in question to the EU, which served as an additional vehicle for Austrian imperialism from 1995 onwards, were promoted. Last but not least, the then Social Democrat-led governments in Vienna fuelled separatism in the Western Balkans and the dismemberment of the former SFR Yugoslavia with particular zeal. Austria is also militarily present in this region, namely with relevant Federal Army contingents as part of the EU and NATO occupation armies in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in Serbian Kosovo. Against this overall backdrop, the next stage of the expansion drive was again directed further eastwards, towards Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

Once again, Austrian capital and its state were helped by the "neutrality bonus" in a region critical of NATO. While Western European imperialism acted more hesitantly, Austria was able to do business with the Lukashenko and Nazarbayev regimes as an unsuspicious vanguard, so to speak. Of greater significance, however, was the Austrian economy's emphasised "friendship" with Russia. President Vladimir Putin and various Russian oligarchs were welcome guests for a long time - as trading partners, as door openers for Austrian investments, but also as investors in Austria. Bilateral ties developed in the construction industry, tourism and the financial sector in particular - and dependencies in the energy sector: Supply contracts with the USSR have been in place since 1969 and were most recently extended again in 2018 with Russia's Gazprom until 2040. 80 per cent of Austria's gas supply comes from the Russian Federation, with a similarly high percentage of oil imports coming from Kazakhstan.

Conversely, 650 Austrian companies are present in Russia, with investments totalling billions. These include medium-sized companies, but the spearhead is Raiffeisenbank International (RBI). It has assets totalling around 30 billion dollars in Russia and is now the largest foreign bank in the Federation, ahead of the US bank Citigroup and the Italian UniCredit. RBI has 130 branches in Russia, 10,000 employees and four million customers. Raiffeisen is also a prominent name in sponsoring, but the profits naturally flow from the actual banking business: most recently, at 2.1 billion dollars, around 50 per cent of RBI's net profit came from Russia - it goes without saying that the bank is vehemently opposed to sanctions and does not want to give up its cash cow. However, Raiffeisen is more than just a bank, it is a comprehensive conglomerate that also includes holdings in media companies or the construction group Strabag as well as the insurance company Uniqa. Above all, however, Raiffeisen - as a perversion of the original farming co-operative concept - is now a huge agricultural monopoly. Through Agrana AG, the company is also an important player in fruit preparation in Russia.

And here there is a corresponding overlap in the direction of Ukraine. Austrian capital is also heavily involved there, as the sixth largest investor in the country. Before the start of the war, there were 200 locations of Austrian companies, 50 industrial companies with 20,000 employees. These are mainly in the timber, cardboard and paper industries, but Austrian companies also produce cross-country skis (Fischer) as well as banal items such as bottle labels and ironing boards in Ukraine. Of particular importance, however, is the aforementioned Agrana AG, which is indirectly owned by Raiffeisen: It also has fruit and fruit juices produced in Ukraine. In Ukraine, however, people are now less happy with Raiffeisen due to its Russian business, which is why RBI was temporarily placed on the list of companies accused by Kyiv of supporting the Russian war of aggression. The Austrian government successfully intervened against this via the EU.

This example shows that Austrian capital has manoeuvred itself into a difficult position. The pursuit of profit everywhere has created political difficulties that were foreseeable for some time, not least in Ukraine. The "Orange Revolution" became something of a dilemma back in 2004, when Viktor Yushchenko temporarily had his operations centre in Vienna. Although the first overthrow of Yanukovych was supported, Yushchenko's failure in 2010 was a precondition for the Maidan coup in 2014. At that time, however, Austria and Russia, as well as the federal government and Putin, were still on the best of terms, as was demonstrated around the Winter Olympics in Sochi, for example. The primacy of Austrian economic interests in the territory of the former USSR clearly lay with Russia. This is why the partly state-owned Austrian energy company OMV acquired a ten per cent stake in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project in 2015. Cheap gas from Russia was to flow via a safe route, bypassing Ukraine, to Germany and on to Austria - not necessarily so that private households could heat and cook, but for larger economic considerations: In Austria, gas is used to generate electricity, and there are also significant production sectors that are gas-intensive, such as the steel and paper industries.

This provides us with an incomplete, but very informative overview of the economic links between Austrian imperialism and Russia on the one hand and Ukraine on the other. In the Russian case, one must even speak of classic state-monopoly links: Prominent Austrian ex-politicians held functions or supervisory board positions in Russian companies, such as Wolfgang Schüssel (Federal Chancellor, ÖVP) at Lukoil, Christian Kern (Federal Chancellor, SPÖ) at the state railway RZhD, Hans Jörg Schelling (Finance Minister, ÖVP) at Gazprom/Nord Stream or Karin Kneissl (Foreign Minister, FPÖ) at Rosneft. The former head of government Alfred Gusenbauer (SPÖ) was responsible for consulting and PR, including for the Hapsburg Group in favour of Yanukovych, but also for the Kazakh and Azerbaijani regimes. At the same time, Russian oligarchs bought share packages in major Austrian companies, such as Oleg Deripaska in the Strabag construction group, which is majority-owned by Raiffeisen and Uniqa. Behind the scenes, Christoph Leitl (ÖVP), the long-standing President of the Chamber of Commerce, has been pulling the strings, even representing an Austrian sense of mission in western Ukraine: at a public event, he joked with Vladimir Putin in front of TV cameras about a possible "division" of Ukraine, as "Lemberg" (German name for Lviv) had been an Austrian city until the First World War.

In view of this overall situation of Austrian interests in Eastern Europe, the Maidan coup in 2014, the Russian annexation of Crimea and the civil war in Donbass were not necessarily favourable for Austrian capital. Subsequently, efforts were made to ignore the problems and maintain relations everywhere. The escalation strategy of the USA, Great Britain, NATO and the new rulers in Kyiv had to be watched and formally supported.

24 February 2022 arrived, marking the Russian invasion and the direct start of the interstate war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Six weeks later, at the beginning of April 2022, Austria's Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) was the first EU head of government to travel to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin. The content of the talks remained largely secret. It is unlikely that Nehammer would actually have been naive enough to undertake a "peace initiative" on his own. Rather, it was probably about staking out and securing economic interests, i.e. undisturbed gas supplies from Russia to Austria - at that time also via Nord Stream 1 - on the one hand, and the activities of Raiffeisenbank (RBI) on the other, whereby the ÖVP is considered the political arm of Raiffeisen to a certain extent due to its close ties. Both are likely to have been handled coolly but professionally in the interests of both parties: The Gazprom contracts would be honoured, Raiffeisen would not be sanctioned in Russia, especially as RBI, unlike the domestic Russian banks, was not excluded from the SWIFT system.

At the same time, important representatives of the Austrian Federation of Industrialists insisted that sanctions and an economic war against Russia would be absurd and massively damaging for the Austrian economy. To a certain extent, two factions have formed within capital, one of which - the smaller one - is decidedly Russia-friendly due to the corresponding orientation of investments, exports and imports. Politically, this faction is backing the far right, opposition Freedom Party (FPÖ), which is calling for Austria to be more neutral in public. It can be assumed that the FPÖ under its leader Herbert Kickl will achieve an overwhelming victory in the upcoming National Council elections, which are scheduled to take place this autumn. Current forecasts and opinion polls give it over 30 per cent of the vote and a clear lead over the opposition Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the governing conservative ÖVP. Should Kickl actually be able to lead a government, for which he will need a partner, the Russia-orientated capital faction hopes that he will at least have a similar approach to Russia policy as Orbán in Hungary or Fico in Slovakia. In any case, the fact is that when Selensky spoke via video link in the Austrian parliament, the FPÖ MPs left the chamber in protest. However, some Social Democrats did not even turn up.

clear majority of Austrian capital has joined the anti-Russian front. Because as lucrative and theoretically promising as business with Russia may be, other markets are currently more important for the export-orientated industry. If we take the destination countries of Austrian goods exports, for example, we can see that in 2021, i.e. before the start of the war, 68 per cent of them will be EU members. The most important market by far, with a share of 30.2 per cent, is Germany, followed by Italy (6.8 per cent), Poland (4.0 per cent), France (3.8 per cent), Hungary (3.7 per cent) and the Czech Republic (3.6 per cent). Outside the EU, Switzerland is still of some importance (4.9 per cent), while the most important overseas export country is the USA with a share of 6.7 per cent of all Austrian goods exports. In contrast, Russia's share is quite small at 1.2 per cent, even though it still involves billions of euros. Nevertheless, the orientation is clear: Austria's capital needs Germany, the neighbouring countries and the EU - as well as the USA. These relationships (and profits) cannot be jeopardised in favour of Russia, even if further expansion prospects of new dimensions are conceivable here.

The situation is similar with capital exports. Austrian direct investments abroad totalled 238 billion euros in 2022. 60 per cent of this was accounted for by EU member states, around 15 per cent by Germany and around seven per cent each by the Netherlands, Czechia, Switzerland - and the USA. In comparison, Russia is a less significant target country with three per cent. In this respect, the same applies here: Austrian capital is naturally more likely to forgo the Russian investment sphere than the EU and North America. Although this at least puts a strong brake on the actual expansion strategy, as a medium-sized country - albeit with an oversized financial economy - you have to come to terms with international developments. It is therefore quite profane economic interests of Austrian capital that are the deciding factor in the final position regarding the war in Ukraine. Reluctantly, but nevertheless, one or two relationships with Moscow are being cut and various plans are being put on ice - at least for the time being. After all, many companies, not just Raiffeisenbank, have remained on the ground and are hoping to be able to dive through the war in order to participate in the distribution of the spoils afterwards, one way or another.

Against this background, it was extremely important for the Austrian federal government, which is led by the conservative ÖVP and in which the Greens are junior partners, to cast as little doubt as possible on Austria's political reliability in Brussels, Berlin and Washington. This initially concerned the rhetorical side: Austria may be militarily neutral, but it is not politically neutral, declared Federal Chancellor Nehammer. He emphasised at every opportunity that he would support Ukraine for moral and international law reasons in order to defend the European values of democracy and freedom. Sometimes the government statements sounded as if they had been dictated directly from NATO headquarters. In practical terms, creative solutions were found: On the issue of the "European Peace Facility" and the financing of armaments for Ukraine by the EU, Austria took the position of a "constructive abstention", which enabled the joint decision to be taken in accordance with the unanimity principle. However, Austria's share of the EU funds could only be used for civilian goods. Of course, it is an absurd idea that this could be separated in the course of EU procurements and deliveries. Austria is also effectively paying for weapons for Ukraine and is in any case co-financing the military administrative apparatus.

What does not exist, however, are direct arms deliveries from Austria to Ukraine - after all, the Austrian Armed Forces would have had 48 of the famous Leopard 2 tanks. But the federal government prohibited itself from providing "offensive weapons", and the only military goods transferred to Ukraine from the Federal Army's stocks were steel helmets and protective waistcoats - equipment of a defensive nature. However, the whole ambiguity of the Austrian position comes to light when it comes to arms transports: the ban on foreign arms transports via Austrian territory to a belligerent country is circumvented using licensing and labelling tricks, for example Italian tanks are formally delivered to Slovakia via Austrian territory and thus within the EU - and only then do they reach Ukraine. And so arms and NATO troop transports regularly roll over Austrian rails by train - in 2023 there were over 4,500. The federal government is equally unconcerned that NATO aircraft regularly fly through Austrian airspace, some even without any authorisation. In some of these cases, there are clear violations of the Austrian Neutrality Act, which has constitutional status.

The general abolition of Austrian neutrality, historically proposed and enforced by the USSR, is highly unpopular with the population. Only for a very short time at the beginning of the war did the ÖVP attempt to start a discussion process in this regard. The possibility of Austria following the example of Finland and Sweden and applying for NATO membership can be completely ruled out at the present time. However, the mood is still being created in this direction, for example through regular appearances by army officers on national TV news programmes. In fact, Austria is already partially integrated, namely via the EU military structures and the NATO Partnership for Peace. Neutrality has been massively weakened since Austria's accession to the EU and has suffered further damage in the current war in Ukraine. The current strategy of those in power is to promote a silent or, to a certain extent, partial NATO membership and to finally degrade neutrality to an empty shell. We must therefore not be naive: We can use the popularity of neutrality in the struggle against NATO ties, but we must not rely on it. The imperialist character and the criminal role of NATO at the expense of the peoples must be emphasised.

In line with the government's plan to expand NATO ties, it is also necessary to massively arm the army - and the war in Ukraine was a welcome opportunity to justify this. While the regular budget of the Ministry of Defence was increased to over four billion euros, various procurement processes also took place outside of this. In addition to 1,000 transport vehicles and items such as NBC protective masks and night vision equipment, the budget increases since 2023 have also included 4,000 new assault rifles (StG77/AUG) and better radar and tracking systems. The air force is being modernised - not only with drones - but also with, among other things by 36 new Italian-made helicopters (Leonardo AW-169), a doubling of the Black Hawk helicopter fleet to 24 aircraft, four transport aircraft (Embraer C-390) and a pending decision on new fighter aircraft - the existing 15 Eurofighter jets are getting on in years and must at least be modernised, if not supplemented or replaced - US and Swedish products are under discussion, with 16 billion euros available for the time being. As far as armoured vehicles are concerned, technological updates are being made to the 48 Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks and 112 Ulan fighting tanks. However, 1.8 billion euros were spent on wheeled armoured vehicles and 220 units of the Pandur Evolution were ordered, some of which will be equipped with the Sky Ranger gun turret.

It doesn't take much imagination to realise that the Austrian Armed Forces are to be comprehensively modernised and upgraded. Apparently, the military wants to move from being a free rider to becoming a more active participant in EU and/or NATO missions, which at least fulfils special tasks at a high level. In the current strategy paper, the Ministry of Defence explicitly states that the armed forces must become "fit for war". The Ukraine war provides the pretext, as the military threat from the east can now once again be painted and exaggerated in propaganda terms. In this context, it was also possible for Austria to participate in the NATO missile defence project Sky Shield despite its neutrality.

The bottom line is that there is no doubt that Austria locates itself in the Western imperialist bloc. This is also necessary because, left to its own devices, Austrian capital's options would be extremely limited. Austria's own ambitions, which sometimes appear exaggerated, must be pushed forward as a junior partner, especially in the case of military implications, not least in the slipstream of Germany and a militarised EU. In 2024 - exactly 110 years after the start of the First World War - this is a less than pleasant reminder of the historical war crimes committed by the German-Austrian brotherhood in arms in Eastern Europe.

While politicians are endeavouring to take a clear, reliable position, at least in words, they are leaving various side streets open. Austrian capital remains in Russia and Ukraine in order to maintain its economic bastions and to be on the spot when the war ends. The government is protecting individual Russian oligarchs, who are of particular importance to Austria, from EU sanctions. In addition, a kind of delaying tactic is being used to insist on the continuation of Russian gas supplies to Austria, as the country is still dependent on them: Due to a lack of sea access, no LNG terminal of its own can be built. At the same time, the fact that the Nabucco pipeline, which OMV had long been pushing for and which was to supply gas from Kazakhstan and the Caspian region via Turkey and the Balkans to Austria, was not realised, is taking its toll. So if Ukraine's transit agreement with Russia on the transport of Russian gas to Europe expires this year and is not renewed - or if the pipeline is damaged in the war - Austria will face very serious difficulties. These facts (and the unfavourable course of the war in Ukraine) may contribute to the fact that the governing ÖVP is now increasingly talking about the need to enter into peace negotiations with Moscow with the help of the BRICS countries - just a few weeks ago, such a proposal would have been discredited as anti-Ukrainian blasphemy.

In the past, the Party of Labour of Austria has regarded the aggressiveness of US imperialism as the greatest threat to peace – and in a concrete consideration this is still the case today. This particular aggressiveness on the part of the USA stems from its enormous military and financial capacities on the one hand, but also from certain dependencies and economic decline on the other. The role of NATO is linked to this. NATO expansion to the borders of Russia and Belarus has always been criticised by us as a dangerous development, as has the militarisation of the EU. Accordingly, our anti-imperialist demands include Austria's withdrawal from the EU and the termination of all cooperation with NATO, including the so-called "Partnership for Peace", as well as with the USA, including the "State Partnership Programme" with the National Guard. All of these things are incompatible with Austrian neutrality, which we defend despite its clear shortcomings.

At the same time, our anti-militarist positions imply the rejection of the further armament of the Austrian Armed Forces, the penetration of society by military ideas and media warmongering, and the participation of the Armed Forces in imperialist missions. The Austrian occupying forces must be withdrawn from the Balkans. The task of the Austrian Armed Forces is the defence of Austrian territory against military aggression - it is neither part of an international intervention army nor intended for deployment within the country. At the same time, the Party of Labour opposes the introduction of a professional army in Austria, while advocating a shortened and democratised compulsory military service and a corresponding militia system.

We have clearly condemned the Kyiv Maidan coup of 2014. The Poroshenko and Zelensky regimes represent the authoritarian, anti-democratic, racist and far right orientation of Ukrainian politics, which is directed in an aggressive, sometimes murderous manner against the Russian-speaking population as well as the working class and its trade union and political organisations. The civil war in Donbass, which began over ten years ago, implied from the outset the danger of turning into an interstate war between the Russian Federation and the Kyiv regime. And this is the situation that has now existed for more than two years, at least in formal terms.

In reality, the imperialist alliances are clashing in Ukraine - it is an imperialist war, an unjust war on both sides. Ukraine is also fighting a proxy war for the USA and NATO – in view of the USA –, while Russia is China's most important ally. We are in the middle of a war that is not only being fought over raw materials, resources, transport routes, investment spheres, market shares and cheap labour, but also over an important geopolitical position in the struggle for the redivision of the world and the global hegemonic position. This conflict is a result of the laws of imperialism, its nature, its competition and uneven capitalist development. It is conducted politically, economically and ultimately with weapons. This overall categorisation is also the reason why a further escalation towards world war still seems possible, not only through a more direct involvement of NATO in Ukraine, but also, for example, through an escalation in the Pacific.

The Party of Labour does not take sides in this imperialist conflict, not even for the weaker imperialism or the "lesser evil", as some communist and workers' parties unfortunately do. We are exclusively committed to the working class, and it has no interest in this war - not the Russian, not the Ukrainian and of course not the Austrian one either. That is why we also refuse the Austrian government a truce, we reject the sanctions and economic war as well as the financing of Ukraine or the supply of war material. These things mean social upheaval, existential worries and supply difficulties for the Austrian population as well as the danger of being drawn more directly into the military conflict. This is because the government and the bourgeois state are deeply involved in the imperialist plans of NATO, the EU and the USA. It is of course not to be expected that the Austrian government will suddenly switch to an active policy of neutrality and peace. It is therefore also a central task of the party to communicate to the people that they cannot trust the government, as we must not trust any bourgeois government or in general the bourgeois state.

We must educate and mobilise the people to lead the struggle against Austria’s NATO integration and the abolition of neutrality. A strong peace movement and mass struggle are needed to move from the defensive to the offensive. It is therefore necessary to step up our efforts to strengthen the class struggle - against our main enemy, which is in our own country and is Austrian imperialism, Austrian monopoly capital. There is no doubt about that. In the event of war, the working class is called upon to turn against the rulers who send them to the battlefields. The current balance of power may be unfavourable, but continued upheavals can give things a dynamic for which we must be prepared. A possible new world war must end with the overthrow of capitalism and imperialism. For the recent history of the former republics of the USSR shows very clearly: imperialism means war, socialism means peace.

For the time being, however, all efforts are focussed on preventing an escalation of the war in Ukraine and the start of a world war. It is the workers who are dying in the trenches - and every day of war is one too many. Therefore, our primary demand is for a ceasefire and negotiated solutions, although it is questionable what options remain for the bourgeois system and the damaged United Nations. Of course, it is to be feared that there will only be peace when it seems equally appropriate to US and Russian capital; that this peace will only serve capitalist profiteering in reconstruction - and in rearmament, i.e. that every peace is only a pause for breath before the next war.

 Therefore, even a possible peace solution naturally does not release us from the revolutionary class struggle for socialism. This applies not least to Austria, whose capital is endeavouring to emerge from the Ukraine war as a largely unscathed and comprehensive war profiteer and to land new profits. We will never be satisfied with a relative "prosperity" in Austria that is based on the plundering of other nations in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. We will never resign ourselves to the slave existence of wage labourers who are politically oppressed and economically exploited. And we will not accept a system that carries war within it, just like clouds carry rain.