VIENNA: Lawmakers from the pro-Russia, far-right Freedom Party walked out of the lower house of Austria鈥檚 parliament on Thursday during a speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, protesting that it violated Austria鈥檚 neutrality.
Zelensky addressed the chamber via video link, thanking Austria for its humanitarian aid and help with projects such as clearing land mines. Austria says its neutrality prevents it from military involvement in the conflict and while it supports Ukraine politically it cannot send the country weapons in its fight against the Russian invasion.
The Freedom Party (FPO), however, had warned days before that it would hold some form of protest against Zelensky鈥檚 address. Its lawmakers attended the start of the speech and then left.
鈥淚t is sad that the FPO is the only party in parliament that takes our ever-lasting neutrality seriously, thereby also standing up for peace,鈥� FPO leader Herbert Kickl said in a statement on Tuesday.
Lawmakers who walked out of the chamber left small placards on their desks featuring the party logo and either 鈥渟pace for neutrality鈥� or 鈥渟pace for peace.鈥�
Of the five parties in parliament, the FPO has the third-biggest number of seats in the lower house. It currently has a slight lead in opinion polls over the opposition Social Democrats and Chancellor Karl Nehammer鈥檚 conservatives, who govern in coalition with the left-wing Greens.
The current parliament runs until autumn of next year.