Neutral Austria and Switzerland have officially joined the European Sky Shield (ESSI) air and missile defense initiative.
Austrian Defense Minister Claudia Tanner and her Swiss counterpart Viola Amherd signed a declaration of intent on Friday in Bern, ARA reports.
"This makes Austria and Switzerland part of the air defense system initiated by Germany. Both countries do not see this addition as a violation of their neutrality," the message reads.
The document was signed in the presence of German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. The additional declaration stated that the "special constitutional circumstances" of Austria and Switzerland would be taken into account.
At the press conference, Amherd noted that Switzerland itself will determine "to what extent it will participate" in the initiative. Tanner, for her part, pointed out that participation in the "Sky Shield" does not free Austria from the active protection of its airspace, as well as from preserving the right to make decisions.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius emphasized at a joint press conference that ESSI is "not an alliance, but a procurement initiative." He added that he is very glad that Austria and Switzerland are "maximizing the freedom of action" that neutrality gives them.
As reported, the European Sky Shield (ESSI) initiative was launched by EU and NATO member country Germany and now covers 19 countries. Its purpose is better coordination and, if necessary, unification of procurement projects for ground-based air defense. Facilitation of information exchange is also envisaged.
Since the launch of the initiative in October 2022, NATO members Great Britain, Slovakia, Latvia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, Estonia and Norway have joined it. In February, Denmark and NATO candidate Sweden joined the project.
