Austrian Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner Visits U.S. for Signing Ceremony as Austria Formally Joins SPP

Austrian Minister of Defense Klaudia Tanner at the Vermont State House in Montpelier, VT on 11 May 2022.
Copyright: BMLV / Carina Karlovits

From 10-13 May 2022, Austrian Minister of Defense Klaudia Tanner traveled to the U.S. for a signing ceremony at the Vermont State House in Montpelier, VT on May 11 as Austria formally joined the U.S. National Guard’s State Partnership Program (SPP). The SPP was founded in 1993 to help former Warsaw Pact and Soviet Union Republics to form their own defense forces and involves extensive joint exercises and collaboration between a U.S. state’s national guard and the non-U.S. partner’s armed forces. Austria will be the first European participant that is not a former member of the Warsaw Pact or former Soviet Union Republic. Austria will partner with the state of Vermont.

At the signing ceremony on the steps of the Vermont State House in Montpelier, VT on 11 May 2022.
Front Row, left to right: U.S. Ambassador to Austria Victoria Reggie Kennedy, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Greg Knight (Vermont National Guard adjutant general), Vermont Governor Phil Scott, Austrian Minister of Defense Klaudia Tanner, Dr. Arnold Kammel (Cabinet Chief and Director General for Defense Policy for the Austrian Ministry of Defense), and Austrian Ambassador to the U.S. Martin Weiss.
Copyright: BMLV / Carina Karlovits

Austria and Vermont already cooperate militarily in a variety of capacities, such as safe munition storage through the Physical Security and Stockpile Management Program. The Vermont National Guard’s Army Mountain Warfare School, the U.S. Army Biathlon Program, and the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain) have partnered with their military counterparts in Austria already for over 30 years. Austria’s participation in the SPP with Vermont will only deepen that cooperation.

At the start of her trip, Minister Tanner also visited Washington, DC, where she met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hick at the Pentagon on May 10 to discuss the U.S.-Austrian defense relationship in light of the changing security landscape in Europe. The U.S. Department of Defense released a readout of the meeting here.