"Krone" commentary
Stocker cannot shirk this responsibility
Chancellor Christian Stocker (ÖVP) has suddenly brought a referendum on the future structure of military service in Austria into play, causing quite a stir. Editor-in-chief Klaus Herrmann comments on the latest developments.
No, it's not a cannon shot, but it is a bombshell that the Chancellor dropped on Friday: he does not want to decide how long young Austrian men should serve in the armed forces in future; no, the Austrians themselves should do that.
Christian Stocker surprised friends and foes alike in his speech at the "ÖVP's political New Year's kick-off," as the event on January 30 (!) was titled.
A direct hit with advance notice
Let's count among his "friends" his party colleagues and significant parts of the Army Reform Commission, which has spoken out in favor of extending military service, and above all his coalition partners. The chancellor scored a direct hit with his announcement that Austrians should/may/must vote on the extension of military service in a referendum.
Also on non-extension? No! This was clarified in the afternoon: the decision is about which of the extension models presented by the commission should be implemented.
The surprise attack was a success! The SPÖ and Neos, which—to put it mildly—show extremely little enthusiasm for the extension of military service, would have been taken out of the picture by outsourcing the decision to the population.
And even the Chancellor would not have to take responsibility, nor would the ÖVP Defense Minister.
However, there is one decision that neither the Chancellor, nor the Defense Minister, nor the three-party coalition can avoid: they must take responsibility for the country, they must decide on the fundamental defense strategy and guarantee our security.
Once that happens, we can leave the decision on the length of military service to them.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
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