Austria intends to significantly increase its military spending to 2% of its gross domestic product, Chancellor Christian Stocker announced in an interview with APA news agency and Kleine Zeitung newspaper.
According to Stocker, Vienna also plans to take a more active role in joint defense programs within the European Union, including collective arms procurement initiatives.
The Chancellor confirmed Austria’s support for the European Commission’s initiative to allocate around €800 billion for defense under the “Readiness 2030” strategy. He emphasized that Austria’s participation in the European Sky Shield Initiative is compatible with the country’s neutral status.
The “European Sky Shield” initiative, launched by Germany in 2022, now includes 21 countries, such as Austria, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and other European nations. In May 2024, Austria’s Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner signed an agreement to join the system.
According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Austria allocated 1% of its GDP to defense in 2024 — the first time since 2001. The last time Austria came close to the 2% mark was in 1964, when defense spending reached 1.9% of GDP.
