OSCE Secretary General, high-level OSCE officials mark fifth anniversary of AUTINT-run pre-deployment training for Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine in Götzendorf, Lower Austria

OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger and other high-level OSCE officials visited the Austrian Armed Forces International Centre (AUTINT) in Götzendorf, Lower Austria, on 24 May 2019 to mark the fifth anniversary of the Centre’s provision of pre-deployment training for the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM).  He was accompanied by the Chief Monitor of the SMM, Ertugrul Apakan, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the OSCE, Ambassador Katarina Zakova, and the current Chief of the Austrian General Staff Directorate, Major General Bruno Hofbauer.

Welcoming the guests, the Deputy Commanding Officer of AUTINT, Colonel Karl Wolf, thanked them for the trust placed in the Centre and assured them that every effort would be made to maintain the highest level of service to the OSCE in the future.  

Secretary General Greminger, Chief Monitor Apakan and Deputy Permanent Representative Apakan expressed their admiration for the excellent training provided to the incoming monitors through the Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT) courses.

The visitors were briefed on the week-long training course and subsequently taken to the training area, where they observed training in the provision of first aid and behaviour at aggressive checkpoints. This gave them a deeper insight into the highly professional training.

In the 45 courses conducted to date, 905 SMM monitors have been trained, of which 235 were women. Forty-five countries have deployed participants to the courses and 50 international guest trainers, primarily from Belgium, Hungary and Ireland, have contributed to the courses. With the recent ENTRi certification of the course, the continuation of the training has been confirmed until 2022, ensuring AUTINT’s continued valuable contribution to the stabilization of the situation in Ukraine.