Austria bucks trend, retains draft

In modern Austria's first-ever referendum on Sunday, 59.8 percent opted to stick to the status quo, following a lively debate that divided not only voters but also the coalition government.

Just 40.2 percent — fewer than expected — supported Chancellor Werner Faymann and Defence Minister Norbert Darabos's argument that 8-million-strong Austria would be better served by a professional army.

Instead, they agreed with the Social Democrat Faymann's coalition partners, the conservative People's Party (OeVP), and with the head of the army, that relying only on volunteers would be an expensive mistake.

Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner of the OeVP had said the current system “fits Austria like a glove and is the best guarantee for all future challenges.”

With the demise of the Soviet Union two decades ago removing the need for large armies, many countries in Europe have done away with the draft, including France in 1996 and Germany in 2011.

Darabos declared that the draft was outdated in an era of “counter-terrorism, cybercrime ... (and) failed states.”

In Austria though, some had feared that moving to a professional military would push the country to join NATO, endangering the Alpine nation's cherished neutrality.

The conservatives argued also that the army would find it tough finding recruits to replace the 22,000 men who are conscripted every year for six months.

A volunteer-only force would make the military less able to help in disaster relief and in international peacekeeping missions, they had argued.

The army chief of staff, General Edmund Entacher, had warned that a professional army would lead “irreversibly to a drop in quality, numbers and ability”.

Manpower shortages would also hit social services and hospitals, the OeVP said, since these rely on 14,000 men opting out of conscription every year to perform services instead in the civilian world.

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