There was a scandal at this year’s military discharge ceremonies at the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt: one of the newly discharged officers refused to shake hands with Defence Minister Klaudia Tanner (ÖVP) – for religious reasons, as Tanner is a woman – and the cadet in question, a devout Muslim from Bosnia-Herzegovina, explained that he was not allowed to touch the minister for religious reasons. The incident during the ceremony caused a stir – and the reaction followed promptly: the officer was excluded from the rest of the ceremony, and Defence Minister Tanner was outraged by his disrespectful behaviour. The deputy defence minister of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slaven Galić, also officially apologised to the ÖVP minister for the soldier’s behaviour.
According to information from military academy circles, the officer is said to have undergone a change in his values in recent months, possibly in connection with his marriage. The military imam explained that it was a matter of different interpretations of the Quran, otherwise the officer had not shown any abnormalities. Until now, the soldier’s behaviour had not been known, as it is customary to only salute during service at the academy.
A total of 74 cadets completed their training at the military academy at the weekend, including eight women and one guest soldier from Montenegro. However, the incident involving the Bosnian officer overshadowed the otherwise festive ceremony in which the new officers were presented to the Austrian Armed Forces.
Skandal: Muslimischer Offizier will Heeresministerin nicht die Hand geben | Exxpress