Austria signals support for using frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine

Austria’s newly appointed Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer has voiced cautious support for proposals to utilise frozen Russian central bank assets to bolster Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s invasion.

“I fundamentally consider these deliberations reasonable,” he told foreign media on April 17, Caliber.Az reports.

“If there is a joint solution, Austria will be part of it, but we won’t take the lead.”

His remarks follow last week’s meeting of European Union finance ministers in Warsaw, where discussions centred on strengthening the bloc’s defence capabilities amid growing concerns over future US support following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

During the talks, Spanish Finance Minister Carlos Cuerpo put forward the idea of establishing a new EU defence fund, potentially financed through member state contributions, joint borrowing, and the European Stability Mechanism.

He also suggested that part of the immobilised €200 billion of Russian central bank assets held in Europe could be directed towards military initiatives supporting Ukraine. To date, the EU has only used the funds to generate interest income.

“Joint procurement, joint financing, additional European Investment Bank resources, more money from the EU budget — all of this is on the table,” Marterbauer said. “If there’s fiscal room for us in those discussions, we’ll use it.”

At home, Marterbauer faces the task of increasing Austria’s defence spending from 1% to 2% of GDP by 2032, a target set against the backdrop of substantial budget cuts and the country’s long-standing constitutional neutrality, which restricts direct military involvement.

“Austrian neutrality has in the past contributed to making the country a venue for peace negotiations — perhaps a role could emerge for us in that regard,” he added.

By Aghakazim Guliyev