Over the past two days, Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner paid a visit to the 51st Austrian contingent of the Kosovo peacekeeping force KFOR. She spoke about the future of the mission in the Western Balkans, but also about the further foreign missions of the Austrian Armed Forces and possible involvement following a peace agreement in Ukraine (-> Current news from the war in Ukraine).
Around 160 Austrian soldiers are currently serving as part of the 51st Austrian Armed Forces contingent in the NATO-led mission in Kosovo – the majority of them from Jäger Battalion 25. And if it is up to Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner, this will not change in the coming years. https://militaeraktuell.at/elbit-selbstschutzsysteme-bundesheer-c-390m/ The security situation is still “challenging”, the minister told Militär Aktuell and other media at Camp Film City in Pristina, “and by no means stable”. “It is still important that KFOR ensures stability on the ground,” Tanner continued. “For Austria in particular, peace in the Western Balkans is very important – and that is why we are also conducting our missions here with KFOR and also with EUFOR Althea in Bosnia.” Both missions will “certainly” continue for longer. “We will remain here with KFOR for as long as it is necessary.” Evidence of the unstable situation – especially in northern Kosovo – can be seen in the repeated discovery of weapons in the country, most recently in an explosives attack on a water channel that connects the Gazivoda reservoir in northern Kosovo with the water supply system for the Kosovar capital Prishtina. The situation could escalate again, particularly in view of the upcoming parliamentary elections in February next year.
Many questions about a possible deployment in Ukraine
The Minister rejected a possible deployment of the Austrian Armed Forces in the event of a peace agreement to secure a possible buffer zone between Ukraine and Russia (-> current news from the Ukraine war). According to the Minister, this scenario is currently “not foreseeable”. And if it did come to that, many other questions would first have to be answered before Austria’s participation could become an issue. “In such a case, it would depend on who leads this mission and what mandate it has.” In the event of such a mission, Austria would probably not be the first to be asked because of its neutrality, according to Tanner, who also emphasized in the interview that the Austrian Armed Forces are already heavily deployed with their other foreign commitments and currently also with their participation in the EU Battlegroup. https://militaeraktuell.at/schiebel-nsp-radar-erweitert-s-100-faehigkeiten/ The Minister saw the plans of the Austrian Armed Forces for armament and rearmament as still secure. There is still a cross-party consensus on this, and Tanner assumed during the interview that all parties will continue to adhere to the adopted National Defense Financing Act in the future. Systems for defence at distances of up to 50 kilometers are to be procured as early as next year, and plans to procure a system for defence at even greater distances are also upheld – there has also been a Council of Ministers resolution on this for around a year. a Council of Ministers decisionas recently also Lieutenant General Bruno Hofbauer, the chief planner of the Austrian Armed Forces, in an interview with Militär Aktuell emphasized. The Minister put the budget required for this at 4.5 billion euros.
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