President Dr. Heinz Fischer, LSE Lecture "1989 and EU-enlargement: Austria's role in European politics"
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is an honour and a pleasure for me to be with you at the LSE tonight and to address you. I am, of course, very much aware of the aura of this place.
It has provided a platform for the articulation of much of the political thought which, over the last century, has had its impact on our societies and nations and thus had relevance far beyond the borders of the United Kingdom. Accordingly, it also had attracted great minds from all over the world.
Two of them – Sir Carl Popper and Friedrich Hayek - had been fellow Austrians in their earlier lives. In my capacity as Austrian Minister for Science and Research in the 80ies I had the opportunity to become closer acquainted with Sir Karl Popper and I remember that on the occasion of his 90th birthday in July, 2002 I flew from Vienna to London to honor him with a high decoration from the country where he was born. As different though Sir Karl Popper and Friedrich von Hayek might have been, both of them had reminded us, each in his way, of the urgent need of keeping societies open and flexible, so as to permit continuous peaceful and democratic change and adjustment.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As an active politician I cannot and will not try to argue on their level of abstraction and generalization. What I intend to do in this presentation is to reflect on my life -long involvement in Austrian politics, in particular about the events around the year 1989, their history and their impact on Austria and Europe.
1989 was indeed an amazing, an exceptional year:
For Europe,
For Austria,
and - given my long-standing involvement with and in our neighbouring countries - even for me personally.
Within a few months, more than four decades of division of Europe became history, the Iron Curtain fell, and the cold war between East and West came to an end.
The Communist domination was finished and all the European countries under Soviet rule embarked on the road to freedom, parliamentary democracy and market economy.
And not only the political and economic structure of Europe, even its geography was touched by the events – just think of the new states, which emerged from the disintegration of the Soviet Union and of former Yugoslavia and think of German reunification.
For Austria, the Velvet Revolutions of 1989 opened a new chapter in our history. Since the signing of the State Treaty in 1955 and Austria’s regaining of full independence and sovereignty, the country has experienced a long period of peace, of political stability, of economic growth and social security.
But, situated as we were directly on the Iron Curtain, with three of our present neighbours cut off by barbed wire, mined corridors and watch towers, we had to live with the consequences of this situation. One speaks so easily of the Cold War, but I can assure you that life at this borderline between East and West was not easy, and many relationships – economic, political and human – were interrupted in the most cruel manner.
Politically, however, Austria nevertheless had a useful and important function to fulfil. On the basis of our status of neutrality, Austria could provide a platform for the exchange of information and for contacts, which were desperately needed.
I remind you of the many summit meetings, conferences and disarmament talks, which took place in our country – the famous summit between Kennedy and Chrushtshow 1961 in Vienna was only one of them.
The Helsinki Act of 1975 gave us the legal base for a stronger and more concrete political involvement in the promotion and supervision of human rights, personal and religious freedom, freedom of information etc.
So if you take all these elements together, you will understand that for Austria 1989 was a year of fundamental and far reaching change. I will go into the consequences immediately, but before doing so, permit me a brief personal excursion.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As I said before, throughout my political life I have been involved with Central and Eastern Europe. I had good personal friends on the other side of the Iron Curtain, politicians like Jiri Hajek, Zdenek Mlynar or Alexander Dubcek in the Czechoslovak Republic, Gyula Horn in Hungary, Vlado Dedijer in Yugoslavia, dissidents, artists, writers and also many emigrants from the Hungarian revolution 1956 and the Prague Spring 1968 who had come to Vienna.
I will never forget the moving and highly symbolic moment, when the Austrian Foreign Minister Alois Mock and my friend the Hungarian Foreign Minister Gyula Horn cut the barbed wire fence with metal scissors near Sopron in June 1989.
And particularly deep was the impression, when the Berlin Wall was overrun by an enthusiastic crowd from East Berlin in November 1989. I still hear in my mind the voice of Willy Brandt when he said in Berlin during a big televised rally “Jetzt wächst zusammen, was zusammen gehört” (now grows together what belongs together).
And on the very day when the Iron curtain between Austria and Hungary was cut, in my then capacity as Chief Whip of the Social Democratic party in the Austrian Parliament, I tabled together with my counterpart in the conservative party a parliamentary resolution urging the Austrian government to start negotiations with Brussels on the Austrian membership in the European Union.
It was accepted with a great majority and that again opened a new chapter in our history.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In spite of our exposed geographic position and our status as a neutral country, there never was any doubt that Austria would be firmly part of the Western world, in our political system, in our political and economic relationships, in our values. The desire to be firmly anchored in this part of the world and to play an active role in the growing network of European institutions brought Austria at a very early stage into the Council of Europe and – as a partner of Great Britain – in the European Free Trade Association, EFTA.
But due to the political circumstances of the Cold War membership in the European Communities was not possible for any of the European neutrals. It needed finally President Gorbachev to abandon the Soviet suspicion, that the EC would only be an economic forefront for NATO!
This window of opportunity could not be missed. Austria together with Sweden, Finland and Norway applied for membership in July 1989, and Austria, Sweden and Finland joined the EU together in January 1995.
I am of course aware that in Great Britain, in public opinion as well as in parliament, membership in the EU does not have the same importance, the same value that it does in most of the continental states.
In my opinion there are two factors at play here, which cannot be ignored: geography and history.
For Austria, a landlocked country literally situated in the midst of the continent, having common borders with eight other states, and having a long history of being part of supranational structures, a country that was directly touched by all the conflicts, which throughout the centuries shook the continent, membership in the EU means peace, more security and influence in decision-making through shared sovereignty.
For Great Britain, a country whose main zone of interest was not only on land, but mainly in the oceans, this might look differently. Nevertheless, not only in view of the European history, but also for practical reasons like trade relationships and above all in view of the worldwide issues of today, I am convinced that – in the long run –our development will go to an even closer integration in Europe, even at the price of more transferring sovereignty to common institutions.
As far as Austria is concerned, I have mentioned already that the historic changes of 1989 changed the parameters of Austria’s foreign policy.
Arguments against joining the EU, in particular the one related to our neutrality, became less important.
Arguments in favour of joining, especially political and economic ones, became more important. Equally important was the growing acknowledgement that in these days many problems are global in nature and surpass the strength and the capacity of action of individual, middle-sized countries, and that today it is more important to be there, where decisions are taken, than to remain proudly outside.
We have joined the EU – after a referendum - as a neutral country but this does not preclude us from actively participating in the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU - aimed at peace and peaceful solutions - or in peacekeeping activities of the United Nations.
At the moment some 1500 Austrian Soldiers are engaged in peacekeeping activities of the United Nations outside Austria, mainly on the Balkans but also in the Middle East, including most recently in Lebanon. Germany for instance has a population and a GNP exactly ten times of Austria but has only five times more soldiers abroad than Austria.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me come back to 1989 and its consequences:
With great interest I read 30 years ago the book of the Russian dissident Andrej Amalrik which was published as a “Samizdat” underground literature in 1970 in Russia and a few years later in Switzerland under the title “Can the Soviet Union survive 1984”?.
The answer of Amalrik was “NO” and he gave reasons for this answer. As you know, the Soviet Union survived 1984, but did not survive 1991 when it finally collapsed – seven years after the imaginary date set by Andrej Amalrik.
Looking at the situation in the eighties from the vantage point of Vienna, one thing became indeed more and more apparent – namely, that the relationship between Moscow and the satellite countries less and less was an organic one, that there was in spite of the Warsaw Pact and the COMECON very little regional cooperation and partnership, and that the Communist domination had not profoundly changed the character and the national spirit of the individual so-called brother countries. The Soviet domination was based on military power but it had lost more and more its economic basis and the common communist ideology became weaker and weaker. (Zdenek Mlynar)
It was therefore quite logical that the states of Eastern Europe, after shedding the yoke of Communism, turned back to a remarkable degree to their historical roots and to where they had been before.
These countries had shaped and contributed to European history and European culture for centuries. It is not surprising that now they wanted to be part of the Europe of peace and prosperity, from which they had been deprived by the hazards of history.
For security reasons they also opted for closer relations with the United States and quick membership in NATO.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The European Union accepted and acknowledged the responsibility that the former division of the continent had to be overcome and the “window of opportunity” had to be used, through granting the so-called “enlargement perspective” to the ten countries concerned from central and eastern Europe.
This process of opening the European Union to the greatest enlargement in its history began immediately in 1990.
From 1990 to 2007, a very dense net was woven, not only in the accession negotiations but also through the multitude of bilateral or multilateral initiatives and activities, which accompanied the negotiations, a net consisting of agreements, commitments and accepted responsibilities.
Austria and the Austrian people are historically, culturally, politically and economically closely connected to our neighbouring states in Central and Eastern Europe. This is a relationship which grew in the era of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy as a result of a long shared history.
During the 40 years of Communist rule this relationship was interrupted, but it was never completely abolished or destroyed.
With the downfall of the communist system in 1989 and the enlargement of the European Union, Austria moved from the periphery of the democratic West into the very centre of the united Europe.
And again we come to geography: I must draw your attention to the fact that Budapest or Prague, Bratislava or Ljubljana during the Communist period were quite far away from Vienna because of the Iron Curtain. But now Bratislava is forty minutes driving time from Vienna (45 kilometres), Budapest two and a half hours (on a motorway) and Prague and Ljubljana are not further from Vienna than Salzburg.
Without any doubt, Austria was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the enlargement of the European Union, in a material but also in an immaterial sense.
We have now eight neighbour countries who profess the same values and principles. Six of them share with us the rights and duties of membership in the European Union, and therefore new possibilities and perspectives of political cooperation have arisen.
But also the Austrian economy realized and utilized very quickly the chances which this transformation offered.
Today Slovenia for instance, a country with two million inhabitants, imports more Austrian products than Russia or China.
Our exports to Hungary are just a little below our exports to the US or to France.
And Austria in 2010 was the largest foreign investor in Croatia, Serbia and Turkey, the second largest in Bulgaria, and the third-largest in Hungary.
In addition, Vienna has become a centre for many foreign companies and enterprises which were expanding their relationships with Central and Eastern Europe. Also tourism in the region multiplied, and Austrian direct investment created more than 100.000 jobs in the course of the last ten years in our neighbouring countries. I do not have to spell out what this means in terms of increase of wealth, transfer of know-how, modernization etc. in Central Europe.
It is true, that at this very moment of financial crisis, economic engagement in our eastern neighbourhood includes also financial risks. Hence, the Austrian regulatory authorities have quite recently announced a package of measures to strengthen the resilience of the subsidiaries of Austrian banks in the region. Further, we believe that in the medium term economic convergence will continue and these countries will be growing faster than the euro area average.
One question, however, remains: is the Europe of 27 the end of the enlargement process or is this an on-going development?
The EU has always avoided to give itself a geographic definition and to answer the question regarding a possible “finality” of the Union.
It is thus not surprising, and speaks also for the attraction of the EU, that the interest in joining it, the interest in becoming part of a Europe of security and prosperity, even in spite of the present difficulties and troubles, continues unabatedly.
Croatia already has the door wide open, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and others who also have a European heritage and a European commitment, want to follow.
Turkey is a special case and many aspects have to be taken into consideration in connection with a Turkish EU membership.
That means that the enlargement process in principle continues, but we have not only to take care of the capacity of applicants to fulfil the criteria for membership but also of the capacity of the Union to accept new member countries.
At the same time we also have to look at the question how the Union interacts with neighbours who also have a European orientation, but for whom – for a variety of reasons – membership at the moment is not an option.
The so-called Eastern partnership reflects the great interest of countries like Ukraine, Moldavia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaidjan and others to have closer and organized connections to the European Union. And the European Union is reacting positively.
Ladies and gentlemen,
If I sum it up very briefly, I have to say that Austria has a new and a much better position in Europe since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 and since our membership in the European Union in 1995.
It is our policy to be a reliable political and economic partner for all European countries.
Austria has a special expertise for developments on the Balkan.
And Austria is a strong supporter for the new European initiative for the Danube region.
The European Union and in particular the Euro-zone are facing – like other advanced economies – a period of economic and financial instability. The Austrian Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger has addressed this issue in greater detail here at the LSE only a few weeks ago.
The financial crisis has led to a severe deterioration of public finances across euro area countries. But it is important to consider, that the consolidated fiscal position of the euro area remains – overall – rather more favourable than that of the US and Japan.
I would also like to mention that the Austrian fiscal position is stronger than the euro area average.
And over the last months European policy-makers have shown that they are able - even if it is under severe pressure from the markets - to take unprecedented steps which safeguard the stability of the euro and defend the prosperity that we have built since 1945.
By end of October, the Heads of State and Government of the euro area agreed on a comprehensive set of measures to restore confidence and address the current tensions in financial markets. Now, the decisions have to be implemented promptly and decisively and further deliberations are necessary.
But the idea of the European integration process, of a European Union, and the idea of a common currency between all those EU members who fulfil the conditions for a common currency and want to join, will remain valid.
And this – in my opinion – is still the best answer to the challenges for Europe in a time when the world population reached 7 billion human beings and only 8 per cent of them are Europeans, 0,9 per cent are British and only a little bit more than 1 per mill are Austrians.
So I have still great confidence in a common, peaceful European future and I thank you for your attention.
