Austria

===Military===
{{Main|Austrian Armed Forces}}

[[File:Leopard 2A4 Austria 4.JPG|thumb|[[Austrian Federal Army|Austrian Army]] [[Leopard 2]] [[main battle tank]]]]

The manpower of the Austrian Armed Forces ({{Lang-de-AT|link=no|Bundesheer}}) mainly relies on [[conscription]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Prodhan |first=Georgina |date=20 January 2013 |title=Neutral Austria votes to keep military draft |publisher=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-austria-military-referendum/neutral-austria-votes-to-keep-military-draft-idUSBRE90J0DC20130120 |access-date=4 February 2021 |archive-date=8 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208223245/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-austria-military-referendum/neutral-austria-votes-to-keep-military-draft-idUSBRE90J0DC20130120 |url-status=live }}</ref> All males who have reached the age of eighteen and are found fit have to serve a six months compulsory [[military service]], followed by an eight-year reserve obligation. Both males and females at the age of sixteen are eligible for voluntary service.<ref name="CIA"/> [[Conscientious objector|Conscientious objection]] is legally acceptable and those who claim this right are obliged to serve an institutionalised nine months [[Zivildienst in Austria|civilian service]] instead. Since 1998, women volunteers have been allowed to become professional soldiers.

The main sectors of the Bundesheer are Joint Forces (Streitkräfteführungskommando, SKFüKdo) which consist of Land Forces (Landstreitkräfte), Air Forces (Luftstreitkräfte), International Missions (Internationale Einsätze) and Special Forces (Spezialeinsatzkräfte), next to Joint Mission Support Command (Kommando Einsatzunterstützung; KdoEU) and Joint Command Support Centre (Führungsunterstützungszentrum; FüUZ). Austria is a [[landlocked country]] and has no navy.

[[File:Eurofighter Typhoon AUT.jpg|thumb|[[Austrian Air Force]] [[Eurofighter Typhoon]] [[fighter aircraft]]]]

In 2012, Austria's defence expenditures corresponded to approximately 0.8% of its GDP. The Army currently has about 26,000<ref>{{Cite web |title=Defence Data |url=http://www.eda.europa.eu/info-hub/defence-data-portal/Austria/year/2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140603202759/http://eda.europa.eu/info-hub/defence-data-portal/Austria/year/2012 |archive-date=3 June 2014 |access-date=4 April 2014 |website=europa.eu }}</ref> soldiers, of whom about 12,000 are conscripts. As head of state, the [[President of Austria|Austrian president]] is nominally the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. Command of the Austrian Armed Forces is exercised by the minister of defence, {{As of|2020|May|lc=yes}}: [[Klaudia Tanner]].

Since the end of the [[Cold War]], and more importantly the removal of the former heavily guarded "[[Iron Curtain]]" separating Austria and its [[Eastern Bloc]] neighbours ([[Hungary]] and former [[Czechoslovakia]]), the Austrian military has been assisting Austrian border guards in trying to prevent border crossings by [[illegal immigration|illegal immigrants]]. This assistance came to an end when Hungary and [[Slovakia]] joined the EU [[Schengen Area]] in 2008, for all intents and purposes abolishing "internal" border controls between treaty states. Some politicians have called for a prolongation of this mission, but the legality of this is heavily disputed. In accordance with the Austrian constitution, armed forces may only be deployed in a limited number of cases, mainly to defend the country and aid in cases of national emergency, such as in the wake of [[natural disaster]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Austria 1920 (reinst. 1945, rev. 2013) |url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Austria_2013?lang=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402155729/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Austria_2013?lang=en |archive-date=2 April 2015 |access-date=17 March 2015 |website=Constitute }}</ref> They may only exceptionally be used as auxiliary police forces.

Within its [[Declaration of Neutrality|self-declared status of permanent neutrality]], Austria has a tradition of engaging in UN-led peacekeeping and other humanitarian missions. The [[Austrian Forces Disaster Relief Unit]] (AFDRU), in particular, an all-volunteer unit with close ties to civilian specialists (e.g. rescue dog handlers) enjoys a reputation as a quick (standard deployment time is 10 hours) and efficient [[Search and rescue|SAR]] unit. Currently, larger contingents of Austrian forces are deployed in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]] and [[Kosovo]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}