Image: BMI
The Cobra has a new boss: Rainer Wintersteiger, a native of Braunau, will now be at the head of the operations team; the 55-year-old will succeed Hannes Gulnbrein, who retired in February. Wintersteiger previously worked as his deputy and took over the management on an interim basis after Gulnbrein’s retirement.
Wintersteiger had already been considered the favorite for the top job in the Interior Ministry. In September, he was unanimously proposed by the responsible appointment committee as the new commander of the special unit, and in November he will now officially be in charge of the Cobra headquarters in Wiener Neustadt.
Wintersteiger’s ceremonial appointment with Interior Minister Gerhard Karner and the Lower Austrian Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner (both VP) is scheduled for tomorrow, Friday.
With Cobra since 1988
The native of Upper Austria began his career in the 1980s with the then Gendarmerie and joined the Cobra in 1988. There, Wintersteiger made a name for himself as head of the parachuting school, head of the personal protection department and in other management positions. In December 2021, he assumed the position of Cobra deputy commander.
His appointment as Cobra boss comes in an anniversary year; 45 years ago the Cobra task force (EKO) was founded. The police anti-terror unit is primarily alerted to hostage, amok and terrorist situations. The EKO’s tasks also include the entire personal protection of government members and the air marshal department. The elite force has a total of eight locations throughout Austria.
Cobra deployments (including personal protection) increased by around 20 percent between 2015 and June 2023; the Ministry of the Interior does not disclose absolute deployment figures.
However, Wintersteiger revealed in an APA interview in June that the unit had daily missions throughout Austria. The credo is to be available at any point in Austria in a maximum of 70 minutes. In general, the operations are becoming more and more challenging for the officers due to the increasing willingness to use violence.
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Source: Nachrichten
