Austria ready to lead humanitarian coalition for Ukraine

The President of the Austrian National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka, has announced his country's readiness to lead an international coalition to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

The Austrian parliament speaker said this in an exclusive comment to an Ukrinform correspondent on the sidelines of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region Speakers Conference in Vienna on Tuesday, March 19.

"We have clearly stated that we want to focus on humanitarian aid. We will be happy to take the lead here," Sobotka said, asked whether Austria is ready to take over the leadership of the international coalition for humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

According to him, such a coalition could have been reflected "in the form of a program within the European Union." The process should be led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Federal Chancellery. Sobotka added that in the National Council, four out of five parties, except for the right-wing populist Freedom Party of Austria (FPO), demonstrate their unconditional support for Ukraine in the humanitarian sphere.

"We can be proud that four parties unconditionally support Ukraine in the humanitarian sphere. This cannot be said about only one party - the FPO," Sobotka said.

He noted that Austria was providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine in different areas, particularly by supporting rescue services and fire brigades. Also, an important area that needs to be strengthened is the acceptance for treatment and rehabilitation of Ukrainians injured as a result of the war.

On March 18, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk held a meeting with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, during which he emphasized the importance of strengthening humanitarian aid to Ukraine and added that Austria is capable of leading an international coalition for humanitarian aid to Ukraine.