KARACHI: In the question hour session after Austrian Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Brigitta Blaha had spoken about her country’s foreign policy, the thread of the conversation repeatedly returned to the strains and stresses within the European Union, of which Austria has been a part of since 1995. With rising concerns with refugees from conflict-ridden areas headed to the shores of Europe, as well as member states facing extreme financial uncertainty, the future of the EU is anybody’s guess.

Dr Blaha was asked to share her views at the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs (PIIA) on Tuesday about the EU’s internal tensions, to which she responded in very guarded words about not being able to prophesise the future. “The EU has been a very successful project of peace and we have not had any conflict ever since the Second World War which is a great achievement.

However, there are crises at hand and adjustments need to be made as the EU started with six members and now has 28; structural adjustments need to be made which is not always easy.”

With the impending referendum in the United Kingdom which is to decide whether or not the UK should stay in or leave the European Union by the end of 2017, Dr Blaha said that the EU was trying very hard to not make this exit happen.

PIIA chairperson Dr Masuma Hasan also questioned Dr Blaha about the current status of Austria’s largest foreign labour force — the Turks. According to Dr Hasan, on her previous visits to the country, she felt the community had not much integrated into Austrian society and asked Dr Blaha about her opinion on the matter.

The Turkish labour force residing in Austria, many claim, are increasingly ghettoised and at the receiving end of a hostile local population.

According to Dr Blaha, “Originally we needed labour so they were invited from Turkey and the Balkan countries, but the idea was that they would come to Austria, work, and eventually return to their own countries. However, that did not happen. At present they are part of our society, though may not have been integrated to the same degree as other ethnicities that came from other parts of the world.”

She also shared that efforts were under way by the Austrian government to fully integrate the Turks and provide them with religious freedom to practice Islam “in accordance with our values, laws and regulations”.

Dr Blaha also spoke about the strategic importance of Austria in the cultural and political arena. “Austria considers itself an international bridge-builder and a place for inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue as these contribute towards global trust-building and peaceful coexistence.”

Another area that Austria is emphasising on with regards to foreign policy is human rights. “The promotion and protection of human rights is one of our main priorities and in particular the rights of women and children, the safety of journalists, the promotion of freedom and religion, the protection of religious minorities and combating human trafficking,” shared Dr Blaha.

Austria, after being declared a sovereign state, aimed to establish itself as a neutral state and to this day shies away from getting involved in the domestic politics of other countries, and in conflict areas, especially with regards to military involvement. “This active policy of neutrality was present even in the time of the Cold War. Even though Austria shared borders with communist countries, we always considered ourselves as ideologically part of the Western community of democracies. This is the basis of our foreign policy,” added Dr Blaha.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2016