Deceptive maneuver

Armed Forces radios have to serve as a PR stunt

The Austrian Armed Forces will receive new military radios worth five million euros. The first units will be delivered to the troops next week. The whole thing is supposed to take place with a ceremony in the presence of Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner (ÖVP), but this turns out to be a deception.

The equipment is destined for Jäger Battalion 25 in Klagenfurt. However, the ceremony is not to take place there, but in Lower Austria, the minister's home province. For this PR stunt, eight radios will be brought from Klagenfurt to Amstetten next Wednesday and handed over to Jäger Battalion 12 as a mock ceremony.

Radios are brought to Amstetten for the ceremony
At the end of the ceremony, they are duly returned to Klagenfurt. This is according to ministry documents available to the "Krone". The commander in charge suspects that this deceptive maneuver will not go down particularly well with the soldiers in Amstetten and warns the cabinet urgently against it.

Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Austria's military has been extensively equipped with modern equipment.(Bild: Bundesheer/Rainer Zisser)

"It may be politely pointed out that a negative perception of this process is likely, especially among the cadre of Jäger Battalion 12," writes the commander responsible. He suggests "moving the ceremony to Klagenfurt, as the equipment to be handed over by the Federal Minister will remain in the battalion after the ceremony" in order to prepare and carry out a planned exercise with 24 pieces of equipment. 

Both battalions belong to the 7th Brigade
Minister Tanner's cabinet defends the questionable procedure. Both battalions belong to the 7th Brigade, so it does not matter where the handover takes place. However, a delegation of Carinthian soldiers will be sent along to receive the equipment.