Austria closes skies to US military aircraft due to war in the Middle East

Austria has become the latest European country to close its airspace to US military aircraft involved in attacks on Iran.

This was stated by Michael Bauer, the spokesman for the Austrian Ministry of Defense, in a comment to Politico.

He said that since the start of the war in the Middle East, Austria has rejected all US requests to allow military aircraft flights related to operations in Iran. The reason given is Austriaʼs neutral status.

"Requests have been made and rejected from the very beginning. The question is, why even make a request to a neutral state?" Bauer said, without specifying how many such requests were from the United States.

According to Austrian law, every foreign military aircraft must obtain permission to enter the countryʼs airspace, clearly declaring the purpose of the flight. The transit of war-related aircraft has been prohibited by the Neutrality Act since 1955. In addition, the majority of the countryʼs citizens oppose joining NATO, so society was not surprised by the governmentʼs decision.

• Spain previously closed its airspace to US aircraft involved in attacks on Iran. And in March, Italy denied American aircraft landing at the Sigonella military base when they were already en route to the Middle East.

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