Austria–Palestine relations are the bilateral relations between

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and the

State of Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. Austria does not fully recognize the Palestinian state declared in 1988. Yet, around the same time, Austria raised the position of the head of the Palestinian mission to the level of ambassador. In 1973, during a conference in London, Chancellor

Bruno Kreisky Bruno Kreisky (; 22 January 1911 – 29 July 1990) was an Austrian social democratic politician who served as foreign minister from 1959 to 1966 and as chancellor from 1970 to 1983. Aged 72, he was the oldest chancellor after World War II. Kr ...

called for Europe to play a role in the Middle East and declared his support for the creation of a state for the Palestinians. The PLO opened an office in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1978, and Austria officially established relations with the organization in 1980. Chancellor Kreisky, who was a Jew himself, questioned

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

as a solution to the problems faced by the Jewish people, claiming that Jews were not an ethnic group or race, but rather a religious group. Austria supported Palestine's application to join

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

in 2011. It also supported Palestine's bid to obtain non-member observer status at the United Nations. In April 2013, President

Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas (; born 15 November 1935), also known by the Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Mazen (, ), is a Palestinian politician who has been serving as the second president of Palestine and the President of the Palestinian National Authority, P ...

visited Austria and was welcomed with military honors. Afterward, he met with the Federal President

Heinz Fischer Heinz Fischer Order of Prince Henry, GColIH, Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, OMRI, Order of the Seraphim, RSerafO, Military Order of Saint James of the Sword, GCollSE (; born 9 October 1938) is an Austrian politician who served as the pre ...

and the National Council President

Barbara Prammer Barbara Prammer (née Thaller; 11 January 1954 – 2 August 2014) was an Austrian politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ). In 2006 she was the first woman to become President of the National Council of Austria, an ...

References

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

Bilateral relations of Palestine {{StateofPalestine-stub