Crucial Deal Agreed Over NATO Row Between Turkey and Austria

A deal has been made after Turkey - a major player within NATO - vetoed all cooperation with Austria - which is not a NATO member - after Vienna called for a halt to talks over Turkish accession into the European Union in the latest row between Ankara and its European neighbors and military partners ahead of a crucial NATO summit.

Although Austria is not a NATO member, it is one of more than forty countries which have partnership arrangements with the military bloc. However, a row developed when Turkey threatened to veto the alliance's partnership activities after Vienna called for a halt to talks over Turkish accession into the EU.

According to NATO sources, ahead of the next NATO summit attended by US President Donald Trump, May 25, cooperation "will be planned on an individual basis, rather than collectively. This will substantially reduce the risk of blockages to cooperation with partners across the board."

Austria — an EU member state — has long called for a halt to negotiations over Turkish accession into the EU, particularly following the April 16 referendum in Turkey, which paved the way for the abolition of the office of prime minister in Turkey and the handing over of sweeping powers to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey's accession into the EU was accelerated as part of the EU-Turkey migrant deal, whereby the EU agreed to pay Turkey US$3.3 billion in aid for refugees if "irregular migrants" — those denied or refusing asylum in Greece — were returned to camps in Turkey in an effort to stem the flow of refugees crossing into Europe.

We are an Alliance of like-minded countries securing peace for almost 70 years. We are united. We are strong. #WeAreNATO pic.twitter.com/IF1MFcJoXW

— NATO (@NATO) 22 May 2017

​However, the deal has faltered ever since Erdogan imposed a crackdown on the media and opposition forces — especially following the failed coup in July 2016.

Relations between the EU and Ankara worsened after Erdogan threatened to reintroduce the death penalty.

Ransomware Partnership

Austria called, December 2016, for the EU-Turkey accession talks to be frozen, causing the backlash from Turkey over cooperation between NATO and Austria. The diplomatic spat came as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg continued to stress the progress being made in closer cooperation between the military alliance and the European Union.

During the recent ransomware attacks, NATO issued a warning to all of its allies, as well as the EU, and exchanged information with the EU. The EU's cybersecurity hub CERT-EU has also been granted access to NATO's Malware Information Sharing Platform.

"Now NATO and the EU are able to share information in real time on cyberattacks," said Mr. Stoltenberg.