Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs

Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs
Agency overview
Formed	20 November 1920
Jurisdiction	Austrian Federal Government
Headquarters	Minoritenplatz 8, Innere Stadt, Vienna
Agency executive	Michael Spindelegger (ÖVP), Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister of Austria
Website
http://www.bmeia.gv.at

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The Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (German: Bundesministerium für europäische und internationale Angelegenheiten, abbreviated BMeiA, colloquially Außenministerium) is Austria's foreign ministry. As a department of the Austrian Federal Government, it is responsible for the country's foreign policy, its diplomatic missions and relations to international organisations, especially the European Union.

The current Foreign Minister of Austria (Bundesminister für europäische und internationale Angelegenheiten) is Michael Spindelegger, who was appointed upon the 2008 legislative election. He has also acted as Vice-Chancellor of Austria since 2011.

Competencies

Foreign Ministry building on Minoritenplatz, Vienna

The former Federal Ministry for External Affairs (Bundesministerium für auswärtige Angelegenheiten, BMaA) was renamed on 1 March 2007. It is responsible for a variety of matters concerning Austria’s foreign policy and relations, including matters of public international law, treaties and Austria's international representation in receiving states as well as to international organisations. It grants support for Austrian citizens staying or living abroad and foreign aid by mutual legal assistance treaties.

The ministry is also concerned with economic integration, European Union law, the Austrian relations to Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), as well as development aid. It is responsible for matters of the International Atomic Energy Agency with its seat in Vienna, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Red Cross. The Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, formerly part of the ministry, since 1996 forms an autonomous organisation.

History

The history of international diplomacy is closely connected to Vienna. Diplomats were for the first time classified as such at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Furthermore, the United Nations' conferences which led to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963) were both held in Austria's capital city.

The year 1720 is considered to be the origin of an independent Austrian diplomatic service, which was when Emperor Karl VI assigned the administration of foreign relations to a separate minister. After the break-up of the monarchy, foreign affairs were attended to by the Federal Chancellery. It was not before 1959 that a separate Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs (German: Bundesministerium für auswärtige Angelegenheiten or BMaA) was established.

With the new government under Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, the former BMaA was renamed to better reflect and express "the interconnection, networking, partnership and solidarity characterising Austria's international relations," as former Minister Plassnik put it. The old name had "rather conveyed the additional nuance of a demarcation."

List of Austrian Foreign Ministers

See also: Foreign Minister of Austria

First Republic, 1918 to 1938

Foreign Ministers of the First Republic
Name	Term of Office	Party
Victor Adler	1918	SDAPÖ
Otto Bauer	1918–1919	SDAPÖ
Karl Renner*	1919–1920	SDAPÖ
Michael Mayr*	1920–1921	CS
Johann Schober*	1921–1922	public official
Walter Breisky*	1922	public official
Leopold Hennet	1922	public official
Alfred Grünberger	1922–1924	CS
Heinrich Mataja	1924–1926	CS
Rudolf Ramek**	1926	CS
Ignaz Seipel**	1926–1929	CS
Ernst Streeruwitz**	1929	CS
Johann Schober**	1929–1930	public official
Ignaz Seipel	1930	CS
Johann Schober	1930–1932	public official
Karl Buresch**	1932	CS
Engelbert Dollfuß**	1932–1934	CS/VF
Stephan Tauschitz	1934	Landbund/VF
Egon Berger-Waldenegg	1934–1936	VF
Kurt Schuschnigg**	1936	VF
Guido Schmidt	1936–1938	VF
Wilhelm Wolf	1938	NSDAP

^*also State or Federal Chancellor
^**as Federal Chancellor

Second Republic, since 1945

Foreign Ministers of the Second Republic
Name	Term of Office	Party
Karl Gruber	1945–1953	ÖVP
Leopold Figl	1953–1959	ÖVP
Bruno Kreisky	1959–1966	SPÖ
Lujo Toncic-Sorinj	1966–1968	ÖVP
Kurt Waldheim	1968–1970	no party affiliation
Rudolf Kirchschläger	1970–1974	no party affiliation
Erich Bielka	1974–1976	no party affiliation
Willibald Pahr	1976–1983	no party affiliation
Erwin Lanc	1983–1984	SPÖ
Leopold Gratz	1984–1986	SPÖ
Peter Jankowitsch	1986–1987	SPÖ
Alois Mock	1987–1995	ÖVP
Wolfgang Schüssel	1995–2000	ÖVP
Benita Ferrero-Waldner	2000–2004	ÖVP
Ursula Plassnik	2004–2008	ÖVP
Michael Spindelegger	2008-	ÖVP

External links

• Austria's Foreign Ministry
• Austrian Development Agency