Austria plans to extend military service in light of Ukraine war

Austria’s coalition government plans to extend military service to nine months from six to adapt to a security landscape changed by the war in Ukraine, it said on Monday.

Neutral Austria’s armed forces have for decades served mainly as a kind of civil protection force, assisting the emergency services during natural disasters such as floods and wildfires, or performing border patrols to intercept illegal immigrants rather than stop advancing foreign troops.

The country has for years been trying to strengthen and better equip its military, which the authorities have long said would be unable to defend the homeland against serious attack by an outside power.

“The security conditions have changed fundamentally in the past years, months and weeks. The dream of a lasting peace in Europe shattered at the latest with the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine,” Chancellor Christian Stocker told a press conference at a military barracks outside Salzburg.

New threats have also emerged including hybrid attacks and cyberwarfare, he said while standing alongside the leaders of the two other ruling parties after a cabinet meeting.

“These developments show clearly that Austria must take charge to a greater extent of its own capabilities for self-reliance and protection of the population,” he added.

Austria is surrounded by eight countries, all but two of which — western neighbors Switzerland and Liechtenstein — are part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It borders Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Italy and Slovenia to the south, and Slovakia and Hungary to the east.

Austrian boys and men currently have the choice, usually around their 18th birthday, between military service and a nine-month civilian alternative in which they typically work at institutions such as an ambulance service or retirement home.

The government said it planned to make it possible to extend so-called civil service by two months on a voluntary basis.

It also plans to switch to a reservist model for military service in which conscripts must carry out follow-up exercises within 10 years of their initial service. To make military service more attractive, perks are planned, such as holiday days and almost doubling pay to 1,000 euros ($1,140) a month.

Making those changes will, however, require passing legislation with a two-thirds majority in parliament, for which the government needs the support of the opposition Greens or the far-right Freedom Party. Those talks have yet to start.

奥地利联合政府周一表示，计划将兵役期限从六个月延长至九个月，以适应乌克兰战争改变的安全形势。

中立的奥地利武装部队几十年来主要扮演着民防部队的角色，在洪水、野火等自然灾害期间协助紧急救援部门，或执行边境巡逻以拦截非法移民，而不是阻止外国军队的推进。

多年来，该国一直试图加强和更好地装备其军队，但当局长期以来一直表示，该国军队无法抵御外部势力的严重攻击，保卫祖国。

“过去几年、几个月、几周以来，安全形势发生了根本性的变化。随着俄罗斯对乌克兰发动侵略战争，欧洲持久和平的梦想彻底破灭了。”德国总理克里斯蒂安·斯托克在萨尔茨堡郊外的一个军营举行的新闻发布会上说道。

他在内阁会议后与另外两个执政党的领导人站在一起时表示，新的威胁也随之出现，包括混合攻击和网络战。

“这些事态发展清楚地表明，奥地利必须更大程度地发挥自身能力，实现自力更生，保护人民，”他补充道。

奥地利被八个国家环绕，除西邻瑞士和列支敦士登外，其余均为北大西洋公约组织成员国。奥地利北邻德国和捷克，南邻意大利和斯洛文尼亚，东邻斯洛伐克和匈牙利。

奥地利的男孩和男人目前可以选择在 18 岁左右服兵役，或者选择为期九个月的民事替代方案，在民事替代方案中，他们通常会在救护车服务或养老院等机构工作。

政府表示，计划允许公务员自愿延长两个月的服务期。

该国还计划将兵役制度改为预备役模式，要求应征入伍者在首次服役后的10年内参加后续训练。为了提高兵役的吸引力，政府计划提供一系列福利，例如增加假期，并将工资提高近一倍，达到每月1000欧元（约合1140美元）。

然而，要做出这些改变，需要议会以三分之二多数票通过立法，而政府需要反对党绿党或极右翼自由党的支持。相关谈判尚未开始。