Right-Wing Austrian MPs Walk Out Ahead of Zelensky Address to Parliament

Members of the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) left the parliament in Vienna on Thursday, March 30, ahead of an address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky marking the 400th day of the war in Ukraine.

Footage from the party shows placards in their seats reading “Room for Neutrality” and “Room for Peace”.

Zelensky praised the Austrian cities of Vienna, Linz, and Graz for their help in treating the injured from Brovary, near Kyiv, following a helicopter crash in January. The president also thanked the Austrian government for its support in the war against Russia.

Following Zelensky’s address and a short debate, speaker Wolfgang Sobotka thanked the Ukrainian president for joining MPs at the parliament session “even though not all of them were here”.

The FPO published a video of their protest on YouTube, saying that their action was a call for neutrality, and arguing that the Austrian parliament should not be a “stage for war”. Credit: FPO via Storyful