Being neutral also can mean: Neither Trump nor Putin! Volt launches petition to create a European army

Since its foundation in 2017, Volt has been campaigning for the protection of European armed forces in order to be able to withstand threats independently of NATO and the United States - for good reason, as Trump is proving every day at a dizzying pace.

On our own - even flattery won't help

“The US will no longer protect Europe. The Trump administration has made this very clear,” reads the initiative's announcement. It continues: “So we have to defend ourselves alone against the aggressors. While the people of Ukraine struggle to survive and Russia attacks critical infrastructure and interferes in elections across Europe, the United States is turning its back on us and supporting extremist and anti-democratic movements across the continent, as we have seen in Romania and Germany. With these actions, the United States is helping Russia to destroy our peace.”

Europe, grow up!

The party endorses the statements made by President Zelensky at the defense conference in Munich. Karoline Adam, Co-President of Volt Austria, says: “For both Trump and Putin, only strength counts: a weak, divided Europe has brought us to the point where we are no longer sitting at the negotiating table, but are already being negotiated over. Neither Trump nor Putin can be relied on, because diplomacy is in vain if agreements are not adhered to. Now is the time for Europe to grow up - and for Austria to come to terms with the new reality: Being neutral, that could also mean neither NATO nor Putin, but being part of a European defense union!”

The EU must speak with one voice - and make decisions

Anna Strolenberg, Member of the European Parliament for Volt, says: “At the moment, we see European heads of state and government talking to each other talking to each other, but we are still not speaking with one voice. Von der Leyen and Katja Kallas, who represent us, are not in a position to make decisions, and that is why we are literally defenseless against Putin.”

“The meeting between Trump and Selensky has shown that we now need a strong and independent EU. So away from neutrality and towards a common union. That is why we at Volt are calling for a European army to ensure the guarantee the security of all EU citizens,“ says the lead candidate of Volt Vienna, Marek Skalicka.

The idea of a European army

Volt also points out that the idea of a European army did not come about in 1950 precisely because the United States offered the Europeans a strong alternative against the Soviet Union “through a defense guarantee”. But: “Now that this guarantee is over, it is time to return to the original plan. All it takes is the will to act.”

Volt is now collecting enough signatures to hand over the petition to MEPs in Brussels. So far, 10,000 signatures have already been collected.

You can find the full petition here.