Austria votes to keep military conscription

[Tender Branson]

Here's a summary article about it because some people may not read my thread in the "International election" section. Thoughts ?

Austria bucks trend with conscription vote

In a national referendum, Austrians have voted to keep military conscription, bucking the trend towards professional armies in the rest of Western Europe.

In a referendum on Sunday, nearly 60 percent of Austrians voted to maintain the status quo, where men have to serve in the army for six months or in the civilian service for nine months when they reach the age of 18.

Some 22,000 young men are currently drafted into the military in this way every year.

This result makes Austria one of only a handful of European countries to maintain conscription. Most Western European nations scrapped compulsory military service in the last two decades, including France in 1996, Spain in 2001 and Germany in 2011. The United Kingdom abolished military service back in 1960.

Military service is still compulsory in five other European Union countries: Denmark, Finland, Greece, Cyprus and Estonia.

There was, however, a key distinction in the way Austria decided to continue conscription, notes Henrik Heidenkamp, research fellow with the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). "One needs to remember that this was a referendum - the public was asked how they feel about this," Heidenkamp told DW. "And in many other countries, in Germany for example, that was not the case … it was a decision based on a political judgment."

The result is a blow to the center-left Social Democrats in Austria, who had argued for the creation of a smaller, professional force, which would save money in the long run and be able to work more effectively with other European armies.

The Social Democrats are currently the larger partner in a coalition government with the center-right Austrian People's Party. The latter had argued against the change. Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said the current system "fits Austria like a glove and is the best guarantee for all future challenges."

Opponents also feared that any change could push the country towards membership of NATO and thus force them to abandon the neutral status they've observed since the 1950s, because they would need to join an alliance to ensure their own security. Heidenkamp rejects this idea:

"If there really was a significant situation or threat of territorial integrity, today even with conscription there would be no way that Austria could defend itself without strong partners - NATO partners, European Union partners."

http://www.dw.de/austria-bucks-trend-with-conscription-vote/a-16538451

[Tender Branson]

Military service is still compulsory in five other European Union countries: Denmark, Finland, Greece, Cyprus and Estonia.

Does any of our posters from these countries (I think we have some from those, except Cyprus and Estonia) know any polls from their countries if the public there supports the draft or not ?

I know that support for the draft is extremely high in Finland as well. But i'm not sure about Greece or Cyprus. I guess too, because of the "Turkish Threat".

Estonia, I don't know. But probably similar to Finland, because of the "Russian Threat".

Denmark ?

This would make Austria unique, because the voters voted for the draft not because of a military "threat", but because of a "cost-benefit calculation".

[Tender Branson]

I strongly doubt Austrians voted this way because of a "cost-benefit analysis".

Why not ? Mostly old people voted (for it) and they benefit from the civil service system.

And they also think a professional army would be more expensive than the draft system and that without the civil servants the ambulance would take up to 30 minutes instead of the now guaranteed 8 minutes to every home.