The Austrian Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs Worldwide at Your Service • Worldwide assistance for Austrians in crisis situations, disasters and emergencies • Service for Austrians and companies abroad • The European Union: European elections, growth, competitiveness and employment • Neighbourhood policy – Western Balkans – Eastern Europe – Mediterranean – Middle East • Austria as a venue for dialogue and home to international organisations • Austria as a competence centre for nuclear disarmament and human security • The Austrian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe • Austria in the UN Human Rights Council • Austria on the UNESCO Executive Board • Development cooperation – humanitarian aid and disaster relief • Integration • International cultural policy Foreign and • The Austrian Foreign Service European Policy Report 2014 Report Policy and European Foreign 2014 Report by the Federal Minister for Report by the Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs 2014 Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs bericht2014-e.indd 1 12.02.16 14:07 Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs Minoritenplatz 8 A-1010 Vienna Tel: During office hours on work days between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. (01) 90 115-0 / int.: (+43-1) 90 115-0 Toll-free service: (0800) 234 888 (not available for calls from outside Austria) Fax: (01) 904 20 16-0 / int.: (+43-1) 904 20 16-0 Email: [email protected] Internet: www.bmeia.gv.at Citizens’ Desk In case of emergency abroad the Citizens’ Desk can be reached 24 hours a day: Tel: (01) 90 115-4411 / int.: (+43-1) 90 115-4411 Fax: (01) 904 20 16-245 / int.: (+43-1) 904 20 16-245 Email: [email protected] Assistance services available to Austrian citizens abroad are detailed on the website of the Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs at www.bmeia.gv.at.  Foreign and european policy report 2014 Report by the Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs  With the entry into force of the amendment to the Federal Ministries Act on 1 March 2014, the Foreign Ministry was renamedFederalMinistry 2014 forEurope,IntegrationandForeignAffairs as its scope of responsibilities within the Federal Government was expanded to include integration mat- ters. For reasons of enhanced readability, either MinistryforForeignAffairs MFA)orForeignMinistry are used in the English language edition of the) Foreign Policy Report. Proprietor and Publisher: Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs A-1010 Vienna, Minoritenplatz 8 Austria ISBN: 978–3–902965–10–3 (print) 978–3–902965–11–0 (ePub) Edited and coordinated by: Michael Haider English translation coordinated by: Sabine Hübler Production: Berger Crossmedia GmbH & Co KG .Based on Außen-undEuropapolitischerBericht2014 ,BerichtdesBundesministersfürEuropa .IntegrationundÄußeres.Wien,2015  Foreword The events of 2014 once again clearly demonstrated the extent to which a country like Austria, with its geographical location and size, is dependent on foreign policy factors and how much the latter may influence our daily lives. The Ukraine-Russia crisis and the necessary sanctions against Russia hit our economy, the terrorist activities by the so-called Islamic State (ISIL/Da’esh) have confronted us all with new challenges, not only in terms of external relations but also within our societies, and the ongoing bloody conflict in Syria and Iraq as well as the crisis in Libya have led to a constant increase in the flows of refugees heading for Europe. These few examples alone serve to show how irrelevant the differentiation between domestic and foreign affairs has become in today’s inter-connected world, how much events beyond our national borders and outside of Europe immediately impact our security, our economy, and our open society. thus foreign policy concerns us all. It requires flexibility and immediate responses to current developments and crises. In 2014, the Foreign Ministry with its approximately 1,200 staff at home and at its 100 representations abroad therefore again undertook huge efforts in representing Austria’s inter- ests and assisting our citizens abroad. The fact that the quality of the services provided remains at a consistently high level despite increasing budgetary constraints, and that the personal commitment of many employees often goes far beyond any purely professional requirements deserves our particu- lar respect and recognition. Although it is necessary to react and adapt quickly to new developments in the world, it is, however, essential not to lose sight of long-term Austrian interests and priorities and to remain focused on the overarching goals of foreign and European policy. 1. rapprochement of the Western Balkan countries with the european union My first visit abroad as Foreign Minister to Croatia and subsequent visits to Serbia, Kosovo, Albania as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina, underlined how significant this region is for Austria from a security policy, economic and cul- tural point of view. Thus full integration of the Western Balkans in the EU in III Foreword order to enable the permanent political and economic stabilisation of South East Europe has been and remains our goal. In pursuing this objective, we have therefore continued to further develop the Western Balkans focus within Austrian foreign and European policy. On the bilateral level, the Austrian Development Agency’s (ADA) budget line for the Western Balkans was doubled, the personnel contributed to missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as in Kosovo were increased, the embas- sies’ budgets for local cultural activities was increased by 30 %. Measures taken at eu level include, for instance, our support for opening EU accession negotiations with Serbia and the successful Austrian initiative in favour of recognising Albania as an EU candidate country, which was co-signed by 16 EU foreign ministers. Following social protests in Bosnia and Herzegovina in February, we were able to move the country back onto the EU agenda. In the context of a conference on strengthening civil societies, which we hosted in Vienna in September, it was possible to develop a very concrete support programme for citizens’ fora. Austria also used its chairmanship of the council of europe and its presi- dency of the central european initiative to reaffirm the region’s European perspective at a summit involving ten foreign ministers from the region, held in Vienna at the beginning of June. In 2014, our proposal to host the next Western Balkans summit under the Berlin process in Vienna was also suc- cessful. 2. europe and its neighbourhood policy 20 years of european union membership have had a major influence on Austria’s foreign and European policy. It opened up new opportunities to exercise influence both within and outside of Europe. Austria has so far been very successful in mobilising European partners for its interests. This will, however, continue to require joint, integrated and active efforts by all Aus- trian players. Assuming coordinating functions within the Austrian Federal Government, the MFA thus acts as a central interface in this context. Against the background of the crises in the South and East of Europe, and in particular the ukraine-russia conflict, it has again become very evident how important EU membership is for Austria’s safety, security and prosperity. Despite existing internal differences of opinion, the EU succeeded in mediat- ing between the parties to the conflict and in developing a united response with respect to the illegal annexation of the Crimea and to the violent sepa- ratist movements in the East and the South East of Ukraine. Notwithstanding its clear rejection of the actions taken by Russia, Austria has always supported an approach that does not force our neighbours in Eastern Europe and in the South Caucasus to opt for “either Europe or Rus- sia”. We rather advocate a policy of “as well as”, providing these countries with the opportunity of rapprochement with the EU while at the same time IV Foreword maintaining sustainable relations with Russia. In this spirit, we also con- tribute actively to the reform of the European Neighbourhood Policy, which should be in a position to react in a more flexible and effective manner to the different needs and challenges in our immediate neighbourhood. In the light of the important role Europe plays for us, it should be a particular concern of ours to assure that the EU does not come to a standstill but contin- ues to develop. The impetus given by the United Kingdom towards further developing the eu provides an opportunity for a broader-based discussion on the future and reform of the Union. It should be used to enhance the attractiveness of Europe, to promote subsidiarity, to bring the EU closer to its citizens, and to further refine individual aspects relating to freedom of set- tlement in Europe in order to avoid imposing unequal burdens on national social security systems. Our efforts aimed at stability and security in our neighbourhood are, how- ever, not limited to the EU. We very consciously use all available fora, and contribute actively, for example, to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine. As chair of the Committee of Ministers of the council of europe, Austria succeeded in May 2014 – for the first time since the Maidan events – in bringing together the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine in Vienna and thus contributed to de-escalation. We will also use our forthcoming chairmanship of the oSce in 2017, to which we were elected in December 2014, to contribute to further enhancing the European security architecture for the future. 3. dialogue among religions and integration A special hallmark of Austrian foreign policy is its strong commitment to fostering dialogue among religions and cultures. From this perspective, the topic of integration of persons with migration background, which was added to the MFA’s scope of activities, opens up valuable new opportunities.