Most recently, Upper Austria’s conscripts had to travel long distances: due to the urgently needed renovation of the military headquarters on Garnisonstrasse in Linz, they had to go to Graz or Klagenfurt. That’s history now.
On Tuesday, Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner opened the renovated fort in Linz together with Governor Thomas Stelzer (both VP). From now on, position examinations – on average this affects around 10,000 people per year – are taking place again in Linz.
Rudder instead of all-round stroke
During the visit to the tank battalion in Wels, Stelzer emphasized that “freedom and independence cannot be taken for granted, but must be represented, defended and secured”. He pointed out that for Upper Austria alone “a 100 million euro package to strengthen the army infrastructure ” had been fixed.
In view of difficult economic times, Stelzer wished for “strength through cohesion and a strong sense of togetherness”. This attitude had already helped lead Austria out of the ruins of the war in 1955. Even now you need “the common rowing stroke and not the all-round stroke”.
Commitment to higher budget
At the army performance show on Vienna’s Heldenplatz on the national holiday, all the speakers welcomed the increase in the army budget. The federal army is currently not in a position to defend neutrality with weapons, said Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen and criticized the “rigorous” austerity policy of the past decades. Chancellor Karl Nehammer (VP) also addressed the increase in army resources in his speech. “This federal government has learned its lesson,” he said.
You can see more pictures from the exhibition in this gallery:
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Source: Nachrichten
