Austria will arrest Russian dictator Vladimir Putin if he enters the country, said Karoline Edtstadler, Minister for EU and Constitutional Affairs in the Austrian government. Earlier, an arrest warrant for war criminal Putin was issued by the International Criminal Court.
"Austria will comply with its obligations under international law and criminal law. I was a criminal judge in my civilian job, and the issuance of this international arrest warrant from the ICC means that if he sets foot on Austrian soil, an arrest must be made," she said in an interview with Tagesspiegel, cited by Interfax-Ukraine.
The minister added that Austria is neutral in terms of military assistance in the war between Russia and Ukraine, but by no means neutral in political terms.
"We stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, we support them in humanitarian and economic terms, but not in the supply of weapons," she emphasized.
Background. As a reminder, the Kremlin has threatened Armenia with "negative consequences" for joining the Rome Statute – if the country's parliament ratifies this decision, the Armenian authorities will be able to arrest war criminal Vladimir Putin.