When German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius paid his inaugural visit to his counterpart Klaudia Tanner in Vienna at the end of February – incidentally, this was the first visit by a German defense minister to Austria since 2018 – the focus was very much on international “crisis hotspots” such as the war in Ukraine. war in Ukraine as well as the European Sky Shield Initiative (Austria plans to participate). However, there was also some discussion about the Taurus air-to-ground cruise missile and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s refusal to supply the weapons system to Ukraine – the discussion then picked up even more momentum in the days that followed.
In addition to the EU Rapid Deployment Capacity and the security situation in the Balkans, the two heads of department also discussed the new EU maritime military mission “EUNAVFOR Aspides” in the Red Sea, in which Austria will also participate with up to five officers. The meeting also addressed the approximately 1,500 joint detailed projects and activities per year as well as several joint key projects. Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner took the opportunity to emphasize that the Federal Republic of Germany and the Bundeswehr for Austrian Armed Forces has been Austria’s most important foreign partner for decades. For his part, Pistorius referred to the “400 joint training courses and exercises on the calendar this year alone”. Pistorius continued: “That’s a real house number.”
Sitting at the table on the fourth floor of the Ministry of Defense in Vienna with their minister on the German side were German Armaments Director Vice Admiral Carsten Stawitzki and Ambassador Vito Cecere. The hosts were represented by Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner, Planning Director Lieutenant General Bruno Hofbauer and Secretary General Arnold Kammel.
Sky Shield
Germany is in NATO, Austria is not. Nevertheless – as was positively noted in conversations with members of the German delegation outside the meeting room – “cooperation between our neighbors is closer than many people here and over there are aware of”. Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner then announced the imminent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in ground-based air defence as part of the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI). The aim was to sign the agreement at the next meeting of defense ministers. Sky Shield is a project initiated by Germany in the wake of the Russian attack on Ukraine, but not a NATO or EU project, as was emphasized. Participation was described as “an important step for our air defense”. “Austria needs Sky Shield, precisely because we are neutral”, as Defense Minister Tanner emphasized. Hardly any country, let alone a smaller country, could handle the tasks alone, so a procurement cooperation would be obvious. This has “now also been examined under constitutional law and no one sees any connection or even contradiction with our neutrality”, according to Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner (-> see also guest commentary by former Defense Minister Werner Fasslabend on the topic).
In this context, it should also be pointed out that the Armaments Directorate has recently completed the intention to obtain RFI information from various manufacturers in parallel with Sky Shield regarding medium-range ground-based air defense (GBAD-MR). Even though there have already been several references to a “partnership” involving eight of the German Iris-T SLM/X systems from Diehl Defense systems, which have already been tried and tested in Ukraine, it once again addresses the market of up to 16 suppliers – and this was always the intention, even apart from the ESSI steps.
Western Balkans
Back to the meeting in Vienna, where Pistorius, with a view to the Western Balkans, emphasized the commitment of the army in missions abroad especially in the Balkans. Following the end of Germany’s involvement in Mali, there are currently even more Austrians on such missions than German soldiers, said Pistorius. He also talked about his trip to Pristina, Sarajevo and Belgrade in the Balkans a few weeks ago and how he had sensed “how tense the situation” was there. There were undeniable “tensions or forces of division”. According to the German Defense Minister, Russia is the driving force behind this. Moscow is trying to destabilize the European security order and instrumentalize the tensions in this region for its own purposes through disinformation campaigns. According to Pistorius, this must be countered together. “The future of the Western Balkan states can only lie in the EU.” Pistorius therefore also spoke out in favor of providing the planned EU intervention force as a reserve for the Western Balkans in order to be ready in the event of a possible escalation there. Minister Tanner also supports this, especially with regard to Bosnia. Pistorius in turn confirmed the replacement of an Austrian KFOR company with a German one.
Red Sea
According to Minister Tanner, the attacks by the Yemeni Houthi militia with Iranian naval weapons on merchant ships of any nation also affect Austria as an export nation. Her guest explained the timely preparations for equipping the modern new German Class-124 frigate “Hessen”, which was which was sent to the crisis region with a crew of 240 men and women shortly after the “EUNAVFOR Aspides” decision on February 19. The mission, with the support of the far-reaching air defense capabilities to protect ships, will only include missions against missiles of all kinds at sea, but not on land in Yemen, as he explained. His host confirmed the deployment of two Austrian staff officers to the “Aspides” headquarters in Larissa, where they will be involved in the areas of logistics and information and communication technology.
Ukraine war
Minister Pistorius then had clear words on the subject of the war in Ukraine. “A war of aggression is taking place there that is illegal under international law, unprovoked and imperialist, and which violates everything that constitutes the international rules-based order. Hundreds of Ukrainians are dying every day in this struggle for existence,” says Pistoria, “but also in the fight for that rules-based order. In that order, we had agreed that there would be no more shifting of borders by military means. This principle has been violated on a massive scale for more than two years. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown no willingness to engage in peace negotiations – which many people are calling for – he can end this war and should do so as quickly as possible. And that is why we as Europeans see it as our duty to help Ukraine in every conceivable way!” And the Germans – as he emphasized, the second largest aid provider after the USA – would continue to do so. Austria is also doing what it can within the framework of its security policy, which his host emphasized once again with regard to humanitarian aid deliveries and the reception of around 90,000 Ukrainian refugees.
Pistorius was then asked by the domestic media about current discussions at international level – such as the debate recently sparked by French President Emmanuel Macron about the possible deployment of ground troops. Referring to this, Pistorius categorically ruled out the deployment of German ground troops. “Boots on the ground is not an option for the Federal Republic of Germany, yes, I rule that out. I don’t know what the motivation was,” said the German minister. He also did not believe that ground troops were “in the primary interest of the Ukrainians”. The host agreed with him and spoke of a “worrying signal” from France, as well as an “approval” from the Czech President, to allow Czechs to fight in Ukraine. NATO also asserts that it has no plans of this kind, and its Secretary General had already tried to reopen the debate hours later and publicly declared that NATO was of course not planning to deploy troops.
Taurus dispute
The topic then turned to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his “no” to the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. “German soldiers must not be linked to the goals that this system achieves in any place,” Scholz told the dpa news agency the day before the visit at a conference of chief editors. “Not even in Germany,” he added. As a result, several questions from local media representatives in Vienna revolved around whether Germany needed to send soldiers to Ukraine with the Taurus at all. Because opinions differ as to whether German military personnel should be involved at allalso with regard to a possible reduction in the range of the weapon, or whether the work could also be carried out by company employees. In any case, Chancellor Scholz still categorically rejects the delivery, which, for example, CDU member of parliament and former colonel Roderich Kiesewetter critically justifies with the fact that the Scholz government – still – fears “an escalation of any kind if these so effective German weapons could destroy the Kerch Bridge, for example, with their penetrator”. Confronted with this, Minister Pistorius tried to steer the debate away from Taurus in several – visibly increasingly terse – answers in Vienna. The Chancellor had said all he needed to say on the subject, saying that Ukraine “currently has other priorities. It is important to ramp up production capacities in Europe for air defense and especially artillery ammunition. Everything else won’t help now, we have to concentrate on the right priorities.”
Extension of the guarantees of EF Tranche-1
Militär Aktuell then asked a question that led back to the bilateral level: The German head of department confirmed that the German Air Force would also have to extend the type certification period (service life) of its first Tranche 1 of the Eurofighter (due to the conversion of T2 and T3 to AESA radar) and that the operation of the aircraft – just as in Austria until beyond 2030 – would be necessary. As the largest user of the Eurofighter, “we would like to support and help our Austrian partner to the best of our ability from the official side, even if this is first and foremost a matter for the industry, of course. But the necessary service life extension is beyond question and must come, and my department is doing everything it can to make this possible for Austria too.” The presence of the German Director of Armaments was perhaps helpful in this regard, and not by chance. In this regard, the Federal Minister added that there are still plans to upgrade the 15 Austrian Eurofighters with night identification capabilities, for example. This is primarily an industrial issue, but is of course “causally linked” to the remaining service life, Minister Tanner concluded.
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