Tanner: “Comprehensive national defense must regain importance as a central national task”
Vienna (OTS) – The BMLV invited today at the Raiffeisen Forum in Vienna for the presentation of the publication “Risk Image 2023: War on Europe”. During the event, the risks for Europe and Austria for the year 2023 were discussed and the main challenges discussed with renowned experts on the podium.
“War in and around Europe also makes clear that a well-established national defense is of existential importance for a neutral state. In addition to hybrid threats, conventional warfare has now regained its importance. A return to the military protection of Austrian sovereignty against conventional forces is needed. This also requires a consolidation of strong military components. Integral national defense, which has constitutional status, must regain importance as a central task of the State as a whole and be deepened in line with the new challenges,” said Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner at the event.
Risk Image: Recognizing and Preventing Hazards
The BMLV assesses the expansion of the war in Ukraine as the greatest threat to Austria and Europe. Directly related to this threat are: increased migration, increased Russian confrontation with the EU, worsening energy crisis, disruption of supply chains, stagflation and an unpredictable general escalation of war. Five years ago, in 2019, 25 BMLV threats were identified in its risk analysis at the time, and 73 threats were analyzed for this year. The world has become even more unstable, so the federal army and national defense must be significantly strengthened.
event content
Speakers’ topics included the corona pandemic and lessons for Austrian crisis management, the war in Ukraine and its effects on Austria and the European Union, as well as the recurring topic “blackout”. As in the previous year, the focus was on so-called “hybrid threats”, in which attackers resort to a combination of different measures – from advertising in the media and social networks to cyber attacks and the use of military means. In addition to senior executives from political, business and civilian research institutions, Austria’s military leadership and representatives from foreign embassies and the international attaché corps were present at the presentation of security policy risks for Austria.
The publication “Risk picture 2023” can be found at Armed Forces – Scientific publications – Risk picture 2023
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