An Austrian will take the helm of the EU Military Staff in 2013
(BRUSSELS2) It is ultimately an Austrian general who should take over as head of the European Union's military headquarters next year (in May 2013) to replace Dutch general Van Osch. The name of Wolfgang Wosolsobe was approved yesterday by the military committee after a vote by secret ballot...
According to our information, however, it took several rounds to achieve this result. Several Member States had presented candidates: some were eliminated in the first round (Italian, German, etc.) or in the second round (Spanish). Finally, there remained the Swedish candidate and the Austrian. European military officials finally settled on the latter. A choice which also corresponds to that of a country typically involved in the European Union. Neutral, not a member of NATO, it carried out several European defense missions in the past - not only in the Balkans, but also during the Eufor Chad operation (with the dispatch of special forces).
Born in 1955 in Vienna, trained at the Marie-Thérèse Military Academy, Wolfgang Wosolsobe completed this education by following the Austrian Defense College (1982-1985à then by following the higher joint course at the Ecole de Guerre (1987-1988) As a captain, he held a position of "planner" - long-term and budgetary planning - in the Ministry of Defense (1986-1987), was military attaché to the Austrian mission in Geneva (1991-1992) then at the embassy in Paris. In 1997, back in Vienna, he took over as head of the Austrian special forces training center. In 1998, he became first deputy director and then director of the Department of Military Policy at the Ministry of Defense. In February 2006, he took over as head of the Security Policy Directorate, which led him to closely manage European affairs during the Austrian presidency of the European Union (first half of 2006). since he was appointed in 2007, head of the Austrian military representation in Brussels. W. Wosolsobe is married to Laurence (a Frenchwoman. No one is perfect :-)) and has four children.
Note that this appointment is not official. Because it is only a recommendation to the High Representative, C. Ashton. But it is not customary for this recommendation not to be followed. And this appointment has already been commented on in Vienna, where the Minister of Defence, Darabos, warmly and publicly "welcomed" this good news for Austria. The civil-military team for 2013 is thus almost complete with a German at the head of the Civil Operations Command (CPCC) and a Frenchman at the head of the Military Committee (General de Rousiers), i.e. two countries fully committed to the PeSDC since they signed the Weimar Declaration.
Read also: A Frenchman at the head of the EU military committee in 2012
