US Military Convoy Carrying Live Ammunition Causes Accident in Austria

Austria has long been the logistics hub of the Ukraine war, the Austrian Freedom Party (FPO) says.

A truck transports a military vehicle towards Warsaw outside the town on Garwolin, Masovian region in Poland, on February 20, 2024. In Poland, since February 12, 2024, there has been a significant increase in the movement of military equipment on almost all roads due to NATO's largest military exercise in decades, Steadfast Defender-24, according to the press service of the Polish General Staff. (Photo by Sergei GAPON / AFP) Fotó: AFP

Austrian Freedom Party (FPO) transport spokesman Christian Hafenecker has issued a warning about the increasing presence of foreign military transports in Austria, citing the recent accident involving an American military truck in Salzburg 

As in known, a military convoy of two trucks and an escort vehicle was involved in an accident, with one of the trucks carrying live ammunition. 

Normally, weapons shouldn’t be transported through a neutral country,

remarked a Facebook user sharing the incident on social media, which theV4NA news agency also reported on.

The Austrian Freedom Party (FPO) believes that Defence Minister Klaudia Tanner of the People’s Party (OVP) and Interior Minister Gerhard Karner will need to provide answers regarding the incident. 

The sight of a US military truck loaded with live ammunition traversing the roads of our neutral country is inherently alarming and presents a significant threat to local residents. The subsequent accident, which brought down an overhead power line, has created an immediate explosion hazard. We demand a comprehensive investigation into who authorized this transport, its final destination, the circumstances surrounding the accident, and ultimately, who will bear responsibility for the ensuing damages,

said Mr Hafenecker, who posed a formal question to the government in parliament.

According to the latest figures released by the defence ministry, there has been a steady increase in foreign military shipments and military overflights through Austria, particularly from NATO countries. The government has already acknowledged that these weapons passing through Austria are ultimately destined for the conflict in Ukraine.

However, if neutral Switzerland and even Hungary, a NATO member, refuse to allow the transfer of military equipment for armed conflict across their territories, why is our federal government unable or unwilling to do the same? It’s evident that they are determined to undermine our neutrality at any cost and gradually erode it. Austria must reclaim its status as a no-transport zone for foreign military equipment,

Mr Hafenecker demanded.

Cover photo: the Austrian Freedom Party (FPO) says Austria has long been the logistical hub  of the war in Ukraine (Photo: AFP/Sergei Gapon)