The entirety of the deputies of the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) and several of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPO) have left the plenary of the Parliament on Thursday during a telematic speech of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and have advocated to preserve the »neutrality» of the country in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The secretary general of The New Austria (Neos), Douglas Hoyos, has pointed out in a message published on his account on the social network Twitter that part of the socialists have left the hemicycle, so only 18 of the 40 deputies of the SPO have been present during the intervention of Zelenskyy by videoconference.
»More than half of them have left», he pointed out before clarifying that the leader of the SPO, Pamela Rendi-Wagner, has not attended either, although her spokesperson has clarified that she is ill, according to information from the Austrian newspaper ‘Der Standard’.
Zelenskyy, for his part, has asked the deputies to put aside their neutrality and has clarified that »one cannot maintain this position when it is a question of fighting against the devil». He also thanked Vienna for its support in the humanitarian field and in »restoring efficiency to the energy infrastructure» of the country.
However, dozens of people protested in front of the Parliament against the speech of the Ukrainian leader, carrying flags of Russia and Austria, as well as banners with slogans in favor of peace and neutrality, according to the PULS 24 TV channel.
For many, this speech is a violation of Austria’s principle of neutrality and they have declared that it is »inadmissible» to turn the Parliament into »a propaganda platform for a belligerent state», as Herbert Kickl, leader of the FPO, has said.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
