A PLEA FOR PRAGMATIC MULTILATERALISM

Eva Nowotny in conversation with Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg

A PLEA FOR PRAGMATIC MULTILATERALISM

„The world is in a sad state." This was the conclusion drawn by Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2023. In his view, the current period is "undeniably one of the most difficult in recent history“: the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, the climate crisis, poverty and social divisions are enormous challenges. Shifts and cracks in the systems that organise trade, security and multilateral cooperation are already noticeable. According to Schallenberg, this is causing many people a „feeling of insecurity and unease, a feeling of living in a permanent state of emergency".

For the Foreign Minister, it is clear that a renewal and reorientation of international cooperation is essential. A "sensible and pragmatic multilateralism must be introduced as quickly as possible“, for example by reorganising the UN Security Council. In his view, the current multilateral system is not proactive and effective enough. The body, which was established after the Second World War, no longer reflects today's world and must offer a seat to countries that were excluded when it was founded - including African states. Austria will also apply for a non-permanent seat in the 2026 elections.

Despite all the challenges, Alexander Schallenberg remained optimistic in New York: "We will emerge from this era of transformation stronger, more prosperous and more resilient." Will this forecast materialise? Can we succeed in developing the United Nations into a space for genuine dialogue and away from an echo chamber or a club of like-minded people? What is the future of international cooperation in times of global crisis?

Alexander Schallenberg, Federal Minister for European and International Affairs

Eva Nowotny, Board member of the Bruno Kreisky Forum, retired diplomat.

Alexander Schallenberg, LL.M. has been Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria since December 2021. He was born on 20 June 1969 in Bern, the son of an Austrian diplomat. From 1989 to 1994, he studied law at the University of Vienna and at the Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas. He then completed a degree in European law at the Collège d'Europe in Bruges.
Schallenberg joined the diplomatic service of the Republic of Austria in 1997. His first foreign assignment took him to the Permanent Representation of Austria to the European Union in Brussels as an EU legal expert. He later served as press spokesman for several foreign ministers, as head of the Strategic Planning Unit and as Head of the European Section. From March 2018, he headed the EU Coordination Section at the Federal Chancellery.
In June 2019, Alexander Schallenberg was appointed Foreign Minister in the Bierlein government for the first time. At the same time, he was entrusted with the management of the EU, Arts, Culture and Media agenda. From January 2020, Alexander Schallenberg was Federal Minister for European and International Affairs in the Kurz II Federal Government until he took office as Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria on 11 October 2021.