Klaudia Tanner
Portrait, 2020
Minister of Defense
Assumed office
7 January 2020
PresidentAlexander Van der Bellen
Chancellor
Preceded byThomas Starlinger
Personal details
Born (1970-05-02) 2 May 1970
Scheibbs, Austria
Political partyPeople's Party
EducationUniversity of Vienna

Klaudia Tanner (née Wallner, born 2 May 1970) is an Austrian politician of the People's Party (ÖVP) who has been serving as Minister of Defense in the government of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz since January 2020.[1][2] From 2011 to 2020, she worked as the General Manager of Austria's political farmers' association.

Early life and education

Tanner was born in the small town of Scheibbs in Lower Austria. Early in her career, she worked in the cabinet of Minister of the Interior Ernst Strasser from 2001 to 2003 and for IT company Kapsch BusinessCom, a subsidiary of Kapsch from 2003 to 2010.

Political career

Already in the negotiations on a coalition government under Chancellor Sebastian Kurz following the 2017 elections, Tanner was considered as potential cabinet minister.[3]

After the 2019 elections, Tanner was appointed as Minister of Defense by Kurz in January 2020, making her the first woman to hold the position.[4][5]

Under Tanner's leadership, Austria mobilized its military reservists for the first time since World War Two, asking them to fight the COVID-19 pandemic by helping with food supplies, medical support and police operations.[6] Her ministry also ordered 18 Leonardo AW169M helicopters in a deal with Italy in September 2020, replacing its fleet of 50-year-old Aérospatiale Alouette III helicopters.[7]

Personal life

Tanner lives in Gresten. She is married and has a daughter.

References

  1. ↑ "Klaudia Tanner wird Verteidigungsministerin". noe.ORF.at (in German). 1 January 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  2. ↑ Oy, I.-Mediat. "Itävallan uusi hallitus vannoi virkavalansa, Kurzista jälleen maailman nuorin pääministeri ohi Marinin". Ilkka (in Finnish). Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  3. ↑ Thomas Prior (21 November 2017), Österreichs erste Verteidigungsministerin? Die Presse.
  4. ↑ "Austria: Kurz sworn in as chancellor, completing comeback". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 12 January 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  5. ↑ Berlin, Derek Scally in. "Untested Conservative-Green coalition takes office in Austria". The Irish Times. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  6. ↑ Kirsti Knolle (23 March 2020), Austria mobilizes military reserves to fight coronavirus Reuters.
  7. ↑ Francois Murphy (21 September 2020), Austria ordering 18 Leonardo helicopters in deal with Italy Reuters.


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