WGA 2020 | Austria | Main Actors

Main Actors

Question:
Who are the main actors that cooperate in WGA-like fashion in your country? At what levels do you see cooperation and coordination, whether in a formal or informal manner, taking place in your country’s dealings with external crises and conflicts?

Austria Expert

Christian Strohal

Senior Diplomat, Austria

Christian Strohal is a senior Austrian diplomat. After having served from 2013 to 2016 as Austria’s Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna, he was nominated to be Special Representative for Austria’s OSCE Chairmanship in 2017. Since retiring, he has been a Senior Adviser to the current Slovak OSCE Chair-in Office and a non-resident Fellow at the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination (LISD), which is affiliated with Princeton University. From 2008 to 2013, Christian represented Austria at the UN Office, the Conference on Disarmament and other international organisations in Geneva. From 2003 to 2008, he was Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the OSCE. Between 2007 and 2012, he also served as an alternate Member of the Management Board of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency. Earlier functions include Ambassador for the 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human Rights; Director for Human Rights at Austria’s Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs; and Ambassador to Luxembourg. Christian was educated in Vienna, London and Geneva and holds a Dr.iur. from the University of Vienna. He has also held lecturing positions at various institutions and published a number of articles.

Ursula Werther-Pietsch

Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, Vienna

Ursula Werther-Pietsch works in Austria’s Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, served as Senior Visiting Fellow at the National Defence Academy, and is one of the founders of Austria’s 3C approach. She is Professor of International Law and International Relations and teaches at various academic institutions, including the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, the National Defence Academy and the Bundeswehr University Munich. Prior to that, she was Head of Unit at the Bureau of the Legal Adviser and the Constitutional Service at the Federal Chancellery. Before entering into public service, she was an Assistant at the universities of Graz and Vienna. Ursula is an Adviser to the master’s degree programme of the Academic Forum for Foreign Policy and a Member of the Scientific Commission of the Ministry of Defence. She is founder of the journal Juristische Ausbildung und Praxis and has published widely, including the books Human Rights and Inclusive Societies (2014), International Crisis and Conflict Management (2017), Women as Drivers for Peace (2019), and The Collective Security System of the UN (forthcoming). Ursula studied Law, Architecture and French, and holds a PhD in Law from the University of Graz.

Markus Gauster

Institute for Peace Support and Conflict Management (IFK), National Defence Academy, Vienna

Markus Gauster has been a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Peace Support and Conflict Management (IFK) of Austria’s National Defence Academy since 2004. He holds a master’s degree in Law and a doctorate in Political Science from the universities of Graz and Vienna, and earned a certificate in Broadcast Journalism from the Danube University Krems. He was also active in the private sector and is a Reserve Officer in the Austrian Armed Forces. His research areas include conflict transformation in Afghanistan, civil-military interaction in peace operations, and innovative concepts for international crisis management (e.g. whole-of-nation approaches for coherent action in situations of conflict and fragility). Gauster undertook fact-finding missions in Afghanistan and its strategic environment, including as a long-term Election Observer for the European Union. He has written various articles and publications, and is a member of the International Society of Military Sciences as well as of the executive board of the Vienna-based Austria-Afghanistan Society.

Hans Lampalzer

Institute for Peace Support and Conflict Management (IFK), National Defence Academy, Vienna

Colonel Hans Lampalzer currently works at the Institute for Peace Support and Conflict Management (IFK) of Austria’s National Defence Academy in Vienna. After graduating from the Theresian Military Academy in 1991, he held various posts in the Austrian Armed Forces in addition to studying Translation Studies and Political Science at the University of Vienna. He also earned a doctorate in Intervention Research from the University of Klagenfurt, where his studies focused on the links between intercultural questions and security. Lampalzer has lectured to military and civilian audiences at, among others, the European Security and Defence College, the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, the FHS St. Gallen University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland, and several Austrian universities. He served at the Kosovo Force Headquarters in 2002 and 2003, has experience as an ODIHR Election Observer, and worked part-time from 2008 to 2015 for the Austrian Verification Center, especially in Russia and Belarus. From 2016 to 2017, he was Head of the OSCE High-Level Planning Group under the German and Austrian chairmanship. From May 2018 to March 2019, he served as a Liaison Officer to Austria’s Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs. In this position, in the second half of 2018, he served as a National Delegate to the Friends of the Presidency Group for Countering Hybrid Threats while Austria held the presidency of the Council of the European Union. His current research focuses on security-sector reform, and he is also responsible for the implementation of the Ministry of Defence’s contribution to the OSCE Armenia Co-operation Programme.

Austria
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At the federal level, Austria’s WGA has both horizontal and vertical aspects. For example, horizontal inter-ministerial coordination normally involves a wide range of actors, including the Federal Chancellery and several ministries. While the lead ministries are the foreign (BMEIA), defence (BMLV) and interior (BMI) ministries, other ministries involved include the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection (BMASGK); the Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF); the Ministry of Digital and Economic Affairs (BMDW); the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs, Reforms, Deregulation and Justice (BMVRDJ); the Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism (BMNT); the Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT); and the Ministry of Finance (BMF). Vertically, there is cooperation with organisations such as the Austrian Economic Chamber (WKO), the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the parliament, the federal states (Laender) and civil society organisations (discussed in more detail below). The National Security Council (with the involvement of parliamentary parties) and several more specialised coordination mechanisms at different levels ensure both strategic and day-to-day coordination.

Austria’s WGA efforts also involve NGOs, the private sector and research/academic institutions. For example, the Vienna-based Global Responsibility Platform for Development and Humanitarian Aid serves as an umbrella organisation for 35 NGOs with humanitarian and development expertise and mandates, represents civil society in coordination mechanisms, and contributes to the mutual exchange of information with the ministries. NGOs receive 10 to 15 percent of Austria’s Foreign Disaster Fund, which is administered by the BMEIA and has an annual budget of EUR 15 million. Furthermore, the Austrian Development Agency disposes of a separate NGO budget line, the BMEIA and the Austrian Red Cross organise regular seminars on the dissemination of international humanitarian law in cooperation with the universities of Graz and Linz, and the Austrian Red Cross has provided CIMIC trainings and training for police officers on the mandate of the Red Cross and Red Crescent and the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Regarding the private sector, companies young and old are increasingly active, are filling funding gaps on the basis of multilateral commitments (e.g. SDGs), and are getting more and more involved in coordination mechanisms. In terms of research and academia, there are several specialised institutes that contribute to the public debate surrounding security and defence policies, including the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy (AIES), the Austrian Institute for International Affairs (OIIP), the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution (ASPR), the National Defence Academy (LVAk) and the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. In addition, these institutions are regularly commissioned by various ministries to undertake related research work.

Before moving on to discuss other relevant players, a geographical focus is necessary: Austria’s WGA efforts currently focus on South- East Europe (SEE), the MENA region, the Near and Middle East, and North and sub-Saharan Africa. Of these, given its geographic proximity, political instability, elements of radicalisation, and migration flows, the SEE region is of crucial importance to Austria’s security interests and can be defined as being of ‘strategic’ importance to Austria. The high number of Austrian troops deployed there – over 350 in Bosnia and over 460 in Kosovo (BMLV n.d.) – together with substantial financial and political support, shows the country’s strong commitment to this region. Austria complements its military engagement by deploying a contingent of almost 180 soldiers to UNIFIL in Lebanon (ibid.). In Western Africa, Austria’s civil and military engagement is increasing on the basis of a WGA (in particular with EUTM Mali). However, as stipulated in the 2011 Strategic Guideline on Security and Development (BMEIA and BMLV 2011), joint actions are to be given priority over unilateral projects. This principle of concentrating human resources, capabilities and assets has also been introduced at the strategic level, such as with the 3YP (BMEIA 2019a).

In terms of government stakeholders currently engaged abroad, Austria’s armed forces have been contributing to international peacekeeping efforts since 1960, deploying altogether more than 100,000 Austrian troops and civilians in more than 50 missions abroad. Also, there are currently around 30 members of the interior ministry (BMI) deployed abroad in advisory positions and civilian missions of the OSCE, EU and UN with a focus on the SEE region, Eastern Europe and Central Asia (e.g. the OSCE mission in North Macedonia, SMM Ukraine, EUMM Georgia and the OSCE mission in Tajikistan). Overall, current civilian and military deployment can be summarised as follows: Total: 1,110 EU (military), 376 EU (civilian), 13 NATO, 493 OSCE, 27 UN. Furthermore, the Austrian Development Agency focuses on least-developed countries (LDCs), partner countries in the SEE region, and (with a global view) countries in fragile contexts.

In this framework, the scope of Austria’s WGA can be described as ‘system-wide’ in South-East Europe (including trade and economic incentives) and in the Eastern Neighbourhood, and as ‘medium’ in West Africa as well as in other African countries and regions, such as where the efforts of various Austrian stakeholders (e.g. the Austrian Economic Chamber, the Austrian Development Agency, defence attaches and civil society organisations) are concentrated or where training programmes are in place, such as in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, or Accra, Ghana, home to the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC).

Austria Report