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Austria to train 300 soldiers as police officers to tackle migrant crisis

Xinhua, November 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

Austria is to use 300 soldiers as police personnel tasked with border protection duty through 180-day fast-track courses to begin on Jan. 1, the Office of the Federal Chancellor confirmed on Thursday.

Both police and immigration authorities will see a boost of 1,700 and 275 posts respectively, to a total of 1,975 extra posts in 2016, the chancellery stated.

State Secretary for the Chancellery Sonja Stessl said the measures needed to be implemented quickly, and that it would involve close cooperation between the Interior and Defence ministries.

She also confirmed that after the six months of intensive training, the new officers will undertake a further one-and-a-half years of complete training in order to become regular police officers, which after their border duties will allow them to serve as regular officers.

Defense Minister Gerald Klug welcomed the project, saying it would improve employment prospects of the soldiers, and noted a similar model of operation is already in effect in Italy with positive results. Endit