Mystery of absence

Supreme military leader absent from National Day celebrations

Of all people, the highest general of the Austrian Armed Forces is not taking part in the National Day celebrations. Officially, Chief of the General Staff Rudolf Striedinger is ill, but it is striking that he caused a stir with an interview on the day before National Day of all days.

Striedinger's cancellation was at such short notice that not even his deputy, Lieutenant General Bruno Günter Hofbauer, managed to replace him at the important ceremony on Heldenplatz. Hofbauer himself said this during the live broadcast on ORF, where he acted as an expert in the studio.

Short-notice replacement for the Chief of the General Staff at Heldenplatz
The Chief of the General Staff normally plays an important role at the celebrations on October 26 at Heldenplatz. He accompanies both the Federal President and the seats of government at the wreath-laying ceremonies and is on the front line throughout the day. Lieutenant General Erich Csitkovits, commander of the National Defense Academy, has stepped in as a replacement.

What is striking about Striedinger's refusal is that he gave a remarkable interview in the "Kurier" newspaper the day before the celebrations, in which he spoke out in favor of extending basic military service and thus contradicted Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner (ÖVP). In the next legislative period, the provision of sufficient personnel for the militia "must be regulated in such a way that we have reliably and bindingly well-trained militia soldiers in the future", says Striedinger. He advocates a return to eight months of military service, with civilian service being extended at the same time.

Politics against the extension called for by experts
A return to eight months of basic military service would "gain a great deal". According to Striedinger, the civilian service organizations would also like to see the automatic extension of civilian service. This opinion is held by many experts in the armed forces, but politicians have so far been opposed to it - above all Minister Tanner.

It is surprising that Striedinger should come out with such a demand before the national holiday and in the middle of government negotiations. However, this is not the first time that the ÖVP-affiliated Lower Austrian has caused a stir with politically controversial statements. In June 2020 - before the Russian attack on Ukraine - he caused a huge stir when he declared military national defense obsolete and announced that it would be reduced to a minimum. The Austrian Armed Forces should focus on cyber defense and disaster control. Following fierce criticism of these plans, Minister Tanner had to row back and declare military national defense to be the core task of the Armed Forces once again.

In February 2021, Striedinger made headlines as Tanner's chief of staff with a "muzzle" decree. In it, he prohibited all soldiers from making "unsolicited public statements". The argument for this was inappropriate appearances by members of the armed forces on the internet. In the end, it was not enforced.