Austria

===Foreign relations===
{{Main|Foreign relations of Austria}}

[[File:Inauguration EYE2014 Parlement européen Strasbourg 9 mai 2014.jpg|thumb|The [[European Parliament]]: Austria is one of the 27 EU members.]]

The 1955 [[Austrian State Treaty]] ended the occupation of Austria following World War II and recognised Austria as an independent and sovereign state. On 26 October 1955, the [[Federal Assembly of Austria|Federal Assembly]] passed a constitutional article in which "Austria declares of her own free will her perpetual neutrality." The second section of this law stated that "in all future times Austria will not join any military alliances and will not permit the establishment of any foreign military bases on her territory." Since then, Austria has shaped its foreign policy on the basis of neutrality, but rather different from the neutrality of Switzerland.

Austria began to reassess its definition of [[Neutral country|neutrality]] following the fall of the [[Soviet Union]], granting overflight rights for the UN-sanctioned action against [[Iraq]] in 1991, and since 1995, it has developed participation in the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy. Also in 1995, it joined NATO's [[Partnership for Peace]] (although it was careful to do so only after Russia joined) and subsequently participated in peacekeeping missions in Bosnia. Meanwhile, the only part of the Constitutional Law on Neutrality of 1955 still fully valid is not to allow foreign military bases in Austria.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Austria's Permanent Neutrality |url=https://www.austrianinformation.org/winter-2015-16/wc55d7qi5qrmyzmxh1qkofcmsluxvj |access-date=4 February 2021 |website=New Austrian Information |date=16 December 2015 |archive-date=13 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213232914/https://www.austrianinformation.org/winter-2015-16/wc55d7qi5qrmyzmxh1qkofcmsluxvj |url-status=live }}</ref> Austria signed the UN's [[Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons|Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 July 2019 |title=Chapter XXVI: Disarmament&nbsp;– No. 9 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons |url=https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-9&chapter=26&clang=_en |publisher=United Nations Treaty Collection |access-date=8 August 2019 |archive-date=6 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190806220546/https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-9&chapter=26&clang=_en |url-status=live }}</ref> which was opposed by all NATO members.<ref>{{Cite news |date=7 July 2017 |title=122 countries adopt 'historic' UN treaty to ban nuclear weapons |work=CBC News |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/un-treaty-ban-nuclear-weapons-1.4192761 |access-date=8 August 2019 |archive-date=14 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814183525/https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/un-treaty-ban-nuclear-weapons-1.4192761 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Austria attaches great importance to participation in the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] and other international economic organisations, and it has played an active role in the [[Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe]] (OSCE). As an OSCE-participating state, Austria's international commitments are subject to monitoring under the mandate of the [[U.S. Helsinki Commission]].