MOSCOW, July 28. /TASS/. As the legal successor of the USSR, one of the victorious powers that signed the treaty on Austria’s sovereignty, Russia has the authority to veto the country’s entrance into NATO, Karin Kneissl, ex-Austrian foreign minister and head of the Geopolitical Observatory for Russia’s Key Issues (G.O.R.K.I.) center at St. Petersburg State University, told TASS in an interview.

"Austrian neutrality is not something the Austrian parliament solely decided upon in 1955," Kneissl said, recalling that "from 1945 to 1955, Austria was under the occupation of the four Allies," namely the UK, France, the US and the USSR. "In 1952-1953, Moscow came up with an idea: should Austria not become neutral, like Switzerland? So, the idea originated from the Soviet Union. It was not an initiative from within Austria, nor was it Britain’s idea, it was a specifically Soviet political proposal," she emphasized.

According to the former Austrian foreign minister, the Treaty for the re-establishment of an independent and democratic Austria, signed by the four victorious powers on May 15, 1955, "also serves as the legal basis for neutrality, which was later formalized by the Austrian parliament in the autumn of 1955." "The Austrian parliament cannot simply abolish neutrality, even with a two-thirds majority, and declare, ‘We are joining NATO.’ The role of the four Allies who signed the 1955 treaty must still be taken into account," Kneissl stressed. "Naturally, France, Britain and the US would most likely gladly say, ‘Austria, you are welcome to join NATO.’ But Russia, as the successor to the Soviet Union, in my view, could very well exercise a veto. That is the legal argument."