Reception marks National Day of Austria
Newly-arrived Ambassador of Austria, Mr Wolfgang Oliver Kutschera, Friday, reaffirmed commitment to the values of peace, neutrality, freedom, dialogue, respect for human life and international cooperation which are also the foundation of Austria’s Foreign Policy.
Ambassador Kutschera was addressing a reception he had hosted to celebrate the National Day of Austria at his residence.
The reception was a well-attended event with overwhelming number of guests including former Federal Minister for Climate Change, Sen Sherry Rehman, ambassadors of the EU countries, members of civil society, academia and business community. A cake was also cut on the occasion and national anthems of Austria, Pakistan and the European Union were also played on the occasion.
Ambassador of Austria who has arrived only recently in Islamabad to assume the head of the Austrian mission in Pakistan, noted with joy that it was his first National Day reception in Pakistan and he looked forward to making as many friends as possible in Pakistan.
The national day of Austria is a day of reflection and serves as a reminder how after great struggle and sacrifices, Austria gained sovereignty on Oct 26, 1955. On this day, Austria declared permanent neutrality, he added.
Austria, the ambassador said also marks 70 years of establishment of diplomatic ties with Pakistan. The bilateral cooperation between the two countries is steadily on the rise expanding from trade to renewable energy, education to sustainable development, tourism and cultural cooperation, etc. A number of Austrian companies are already contributing to infrastructure and energy development fields in Pakistan, the ambassador said. Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology (PAF IAST) the college of art and science in Haripur, established with support from Austria is also one example of the ongoing Austrian-Pakistan cooperation in education, he said.
The ambassador spoke highly of the Pakistani diaspora particularly students and business community contributing to the economic uplift of the country.
In art and culture, the ambassador said the Austrian artists and institutions are engaging in Pakistan’s rich and diverse cultural scene, he said.
The Austrian ambassador noted that the year 2025 also marked 70 years of Austria’s members of the UN and 30 years since joining the European Union. During all this while his country has been promoting multilateralism, partnership and belief that international disputes could be and should be resolved only through dialogue, cooperation and resect to the international and just principles. Pakistan, he said also subscribed to the values and both Austria and Pakistan have unanimity of views on many international issues.
He commended Pakistan for hosting millions of refugees for decades and sought closer partnership in climate resilience, sustainable energy and infrastructure development. In these uncertain times, we must remain optimistic, he said hoping the ordeal of the people of Ukraine and Gaza would soon come to an end and peace will prevail in the world.
Vienna, he said has already called for peaceful resolution of conflicts and takes pride in hosting numerous peace negotiations since Vienna Conference some two hundred years ago. At the end, the Austrian artists delighted the guests with classical Austrian music.
